Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts
by Titano Man XIII
Summary: What if Sora wasn't the only Keyblade wielder out there when he went on his first adventure with Donald and Goofy. Watch as three young Keyblade masters fight against the darkness that had destroyed their home and experience the darker half of the Kingdom Hearts Universe. Rated M for strong language, violence, and suggestive themes and content. This is a massive multi-xover story.
1. Dive to the Heart

Titano Man XIII: Greetings. I am Titano Man XIII. And I'm here to give you an awesome story!

Sora: Cool. Where is It?

Titano Man XIII: *Glares at Sora*

Sora: What?

Titano Man XIII: Let's just start the story.

Disclaimer: I, Titano Man XIII, do not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, Or any of the following anime and games: Naruto, Bleach, Rosario + Vampire, Soul Eater, Avatar the Last Airbender, 8 Bit Theater Chaos, The Legend of Spyro/Skylanders: Spyro's adventure, Sonic Colors, SoulCalibur V, Devil May Cry 1, 2, 3, or 4, Arc the lad: Twilight of the Spirits, Panzer Dragoon: Orta, and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as well as anything else I decide to put into this story. But all the original characters in this story are my property.

* * *

**Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts**

**Prologue: Dive to the Heart**

"_When you light a candle, you also cast a shadow._"- Ursula K. Le Guin

'_I've been having these weird thoughts lately._'

'_Like is any of this for real, or not?_'

* * *

The scene opens to show a boy around the age of twelve with bright spiky red hair falling through an endless black abyss, a trail of light blue bubbles flowing from him as he fell.

The boy opened his eyes briefly as he fell; his eyes were a bright emerald-green. He wore a simple white t-shirt, a pair of light blue jeans, and a pair of blue-gray shoes.

The boy slowly flipped over just in time for his feet to touch land on a flat invisible surface.

He looked around briefly before taking a small step forward. Suddenly a bright light came from the spot his foot touched and it quickly spread out before turning into a large flock of birds that flew into the endless blackness. As the light was spreading out it revealed that the boy was standing on a large circular pillar made of stained glass.

A shot from bird's-eye view revealed that the stained glass was a mural with the profile of a mysterious girl around the age of thirteen with the most unusual appearance the boy had ever seen. The girl had short jaw-length indigo colored hair that was dark enough, that it probably would have been confused with the color black and unique pupil-less pearl colored eyes with the faintest hints of lavender to them. She wore a baggy cream-colored hooded jacket with a fire symbol on the upper right and left sleeves and fur trim around the cuffs and hem of the jacket, a pair of navy blue pants, and a pair of navy blue ninja sandals. The girl had a shy and withdrawn demeanor as it appeared that she was trying to hide herself, from what the boy didn't know, but he did see the look of sadness in her eyes.

The mural was intricately designed. It had many circles with the pictures of several people in them. There were three boys around the same age as the girl an older woman and a little girl. One boy had dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a puppy that had white fur with brown patches on it. Another circle held a boy who too had dark brown hair but whatever color his eyes were was unknown since they were hidden by pitch-black glasses and the rest of his face from the eyes down was covered by a gray high collared overcoat. The third boy was a great contrast compared to the other two. He had sun-kissed blond hair, tanned skin, deep blue eyes, and an odd set of whisker-like scars on his cheeks. The woman was young and quite attractive; she had long black hair, and a pair of striking red eyes. She had a look of strength on her face and she looked like she doesn't take any crap from anyone. The little girl bared a strong resemblance to the other girl on the mural only with black/brown hair, and lacking the lavender tint to her eyes. At the bottom of the mural was an image of a large village with a mountain with four faces carved into it looking over said village. The circular mural had cherry blossoms acting as the border while the rest of the mural had a lavender tint to it.

'_Where am I?_' the boy thought as he surveyed the area.

**So much to do,**

"Who's there?!" the red-head shouted in shock as he looked about for the source of the voice.

**So little time...**

**Take your time.**

**Don't be afraid.**

'What's going on?' thought the boy.

**The door is still shut.**

**Now step forward.**

**Can you do it?**

A beam of light shone down onto the center of the platform.

The boy tentatively walked forward until he was directly under the light. He looked around into the darkness until three pedestals rose out of the floor. On the pedestal to his left floated a simple double-edged sword and a shield. On the pedestal to his right was a simple wooden magic staff with a simple red orb on top. And on the last platform was a simple double-edged long sword.

**Power sleeps within you.**

**If you give it form...**

**Choose well.**

The boy walked forward and picked up the sword.

**The power of the warrior.**

**Invincible courage.**

**A sword of terrible destruction.**

**Is this the power you seek?**

The boy thought for a moment before shaking his head and placing the sword back onto the pedestal. He then moved over to the pedestal that held the staff.

**Power of the mystic.**

**Inner strength.**

**A staff of wonder and ruin.**

**Is this the power you seek?**

The boy gave some thought before ultimately shaking his head and placing the staff back onto the pedestal. He finally moved onto the shield and the sword that accompanied it.

**The power of the knight.**

**Kindness to aid friends.**

**A sword to strike down your enemies.**

**A shield to repel all.**

**Is this the power you seek?**

The boy gave it serious thought before nodding. The weapons then disappeared in a flash of light.

**Your path is set.**

**Now what will you give up in exchange?**

The boy gave it some thought for a few moments before moving towards the sword.

**The power of the warrior.**

**Invincible courage.**

**A sword of terrible destruction.**

**You give up this power?**

The boy nodded and the weapon then disappeared in a flash of light.

**You've chosen the power of the knight.**

**You've given up the power of the warrior.**

**Is this the form you choose?**

The boy nodded.

The pedestals began to sink into the ground and the mural began to shatter. the boy attempted to run but in the end he couldn't outrun it and he fell into the eternal blackness. He continued until another circular stained glass mural appeared below him.

The mural was similar to the one before it only this time it had the profile of a girl around the age of sixteen with long burnt orange hair, mesmerizing silver eyes that were filled with kindness, and a slender yet curvaceous figure with large breasts. All she wore was a form-fitting white dress-like robe with black linings. Like the other mural this one had images of people the boy was beginning to assume were close to the girl. One was of a young man with spiky orange hair and brown eyes. Another was of a young man with straight chin-length raven colored hair that frames his face, and a pair of glasses that hang over his blue eyes. A third image depicted a man with long messy black hair with bangs that mostly cover his eyes. And the last image had a girl with short black hair and blue eyes. The background of this mural was a large white desert with a large citadel silhouetted against a giant crescent moon in the distance. The border to this mural was a series of light blue five petal flowers that looked exactly like the hair clip she had on. The rest of the mural had an ivory tint to it matching the desert background.

The boy was able to gently land on his feet.

**You've gained the power to fight.**

The sword and shield appeared in his hands.

He then swung the sword through the air to see how well-balanced it was.

**All right! You got it.**

**Use this power to protect yourself and others.**

The boy looked around a little before a mysterious shadow appeared on the floor.

**There will be time where you'll have to fight.**

The boy looked closely at the shadow just as it began to rise off the ground. The strange creature was roughly humanoid in appearance but no bigger than that of a child and more greatly resembled an ant. It had ink-black skin, small zigzagging antennae, clawed hands with three fingers on each, round feat with no toes, and empty yellow eyes.

**Keep your light burning strong.**

More of the same creature rose from the floor.

'_What are these things?!_' the boy thought as he entered a battle stance. He stood straight with his shield held in front of him and his sword was calmly held to the side but ready to strike. (Titano Man XIII: Think the Warrior of Light's battle stance in Dissidia Final Fantasy.)

The creatures ran at the boy intending to rip him apart. One of the ant-like creatures jumped into the air, but the boy knocked it back with his shield, and with one quick slash from his sword, sliced the creature in half.

After seeing one of their own so easily slain the rest of the shadow-like creatures sank back into the ground and disappeared.

The boy looked around to make sure that all the strange had disappeared. But unbeknownst to him, one of the shadow-like creatures had reappeared on the floor and crept up behind him. It quickly rose from the ground.

**Behind you!**

The boy quickly turned around as more of the shadows appeared.

Even though the creatures had the opportunity for a surprise attack, they were all easily defeated.

The last of the creatures began to sink back into the floor, but as it did a thick black shadow spread from where it sank until it covered the entire mural.

The boy began to struggle and flail about as he began to sink into pool of darkness and within moments he was fully submerged.

The boy continued to struggle until he realized that he was lying on another mural.

This mural was different from the two before it. This mural did not have the image of a girl or other people on it. Instead it had nine hearts on it, each with the silhouette of a girl with a crystal above their heads. The mural had no background or border and only had a pinkish-red tint to it.

As the red-haired boy stood up he noticed a beam of light shining down onto a large oak wood door. He went to investigate the door but soon realized that he could not use it for he could see straight through the door. The redhead turned around as the beam of light moved to the bottom of the mural. When the light stopped a wooden treasure chest appeared under it.

The boy walked over to the chest and opened it. To his shock and disappointment it was empty. He looked back to the door and saw that it had become less transparent. The treasure chest then disappeared.

A large crate then appeared in front of the door.

He walked over to it and pushed it aside. He suddenly thought that something useful could be inside and he proceeded to smash it open.

Among the debris was a small bottle filled with green liquid. He figured that the item would come in handy and stuffed it into his pocket.

The door became more solid but still couldn't be opened.

A wooden barrel appeared onto the platform.

The boy walked over to the barrel and picked it up. He heard an odd chiming sound and the door became completely solid. He put down the barrel and walked towards the door.

The door slowly opened and the boy had been engulfed in a blinding white light.

When the light faded the redhead found himself in the middle of a forest clearing. He then noticed that he was surrounded by two girls and one boy.

The child in front of him was a girl around the age of twelve with wavy emerald-green hair that was pulled into a ponytail and purple eyes. She was wearing a knee-length red dress and a pair of heeled red boot that looked like they were made to support someone with naturally high ankles.

The second girl was around the age of fourteen with long black hair that was pulled up to look short and held up by a yellow and green headband with two little white puff balls on the sides of her head just above her ears, She had two chin-length bangs framing the sides of her face and three smaller bangs falling between her green eyes. Said eyes were without light, pale, and unfocused showing that the girl was in fact blind. She wore a light green tee-shirt under a light yellow vest, light green shorts, and a black bracelet "carved" from a meteorite. She wore no shoes as she preferred to walk barefoot.

And the last was a boy around the age of eleven with short brown hair, brown eyes, and freckles. He wore yellow shirt covered by a long green jacket, a white mantle, and a yellow scarf. He wore brown fingerless gloves, fitted black pants, and knee-length brown boots with white cuffs.

**Hold on.**

**The door won't open just yet.**

**First, tell me more about yourself.**

The emerald eyed boy walked to the green haired girl first.

"What's most important to you?" asked the girl.

"Friendship." answered the redhead.

"Is friendship such a big deal?" asked the emerald haired girl.

The boy then walked over to the second girl.

"What are you afraid of?" asked the blonde.

"Being indecisive." answered the boy.

"Being indecisive? Is that really so scary?" asked the blind girl.

The boy then walked over to the other boy.

"What do you want out of life?" asked the brunet.

"To broaden my horizons." answered the redhead.

"To broaden my horizons, huh?" said the younger boy.

**You want friendship.**

**You're afraid of being indecisive.**

**You want to broaden your horizons.**

**Your adventure begins in the dead of night.**

**Keep a steady pace and you'll come through fine.**

"Sounds good." said the boy.

**The day you will open the door is both far off and very near.**

The scene then faded into a blinding white before the boy found himself on another mural. This time the mural resembled the first two he had seen as this one had a girl on it. The girl looked to be twelve to thirteen years old with ash blonde hair tied into two pigtails and large green eyes. She wore a typical school girl outfit underneath a black trench coat with a cloak-like end. The rest of the outfit consisted of a white blouse with a yellow sweater-vest, a red plaid skirt, a striped green and white tie, black boots with white buckles, and a pair of white gloves. Accompanying the girl were the images of several people. One of them was a boy with white hair that was swept to one side, red eyes, and sharp shark-like teeth. Another one was was a boy with straight black hair with three horizontal white stripes going halfway around his head on the left side and eyes with two different shades of yellow ringed around his eyes. There were also two girls with blonde hair but in two different shades and styles as well as blue eyes. Another person was a boy with spiky light blue hair that resembled a star and green eyes. There was another girl with long black hair pulled into a ponytail and large indigo eyes. The background of the mural was of a city in the middle of a dessert with a giant orange sun with a face and a large crescent moon, also with a face laughing/cackling in the sky. The mural had a light blueish tint and its border were several balls of light with the kanji for soul on them.

The boy walked to the center of the mural.

When the boy reached the center of the mural a group of the ant-like shadow creatures appeared.

He drew his weapons and readied himself for battle.

After a few minutes of fighting the redhead defeated the last of the creatures.

As the boy panted from exhaustion a beam of light shone down onto the center of the mural and a large blue crystal that was bigger than him appeared under it.

The boy walked over to the crystal and laid a hand on it. Within moments he felt instantly rejuvenated and all of his injuries had been healed.

The beam of light moved down and off of the mural. A moment later a flight of stairs made of stained glass appeared over the void and led towards a large pillar in the distance.

The boy ran up the staircase and onto the top of the pillar.

On the top of the pillar was yet another mural with the profile of a girl with long pink hair and green eyes. She wore a school uniform composed of a long-sleeved green blazer jacket over a white button-up dress shirt, a red ribbon bow tie, a yellow plaid skirt, knee-length white socks, black dress shoes, and a silver rosary with a red jewel in the center that was connected to a black choker by a short length of silver chain. The images of several people were with her on the mural. One was a boy with dark brown hair and dark brown eyes. Another was a girl with light ocean blue hair pulled up into a short ponytail and she had deep violet colored eyes. Another was a girl with short black/brown hair and purple eyes. And the last was another girl with light purple hair and blue eyes with nearly indistinguishable blue pupils. The background was of a large building on a cliff that was overlooking a blood-red sea. The mural had a red tint and had the silhouettes of bats acting as the border.

A beam of light shown over the center of the mural.

The boy slowly walked forward until he was directly under the light.

As he looked up to find the light's source he heard the mysterious voice again.

**The closer you get to the light, the greater your shadow becomes.**

The boy turned around and saw that his shadow had grown in length. He watched as his shadow lifted itself off of the floor and changes its form.

**But don't be afraid.**

The shadow turned into a massive, muscular, humanoid creature with black skin. Its legs are rather short and its feet are pretty thin and curl upwards. Its arms are rather long, and it had two relatively small, twisted wings on its back. There is a large, heart-shaped hole in the creature's abdominal area, which penetrates straight through from the creature's front to its back. Its head had dozens of twisted, black tentacles wrapped around its face. And only its glowing yellow eyes were visible.

**Keep your light strong.**

The boy began to back away.

**And don't forget...**

The boy turned around and tried to run away but had to stop himself from running off of the edge of the mural topped pillar. He turned back around to gaze at the monster before him.

Seeing no other alternative the child drew his weapons and charged at the giant.

The battle began with the giant coating its fist in dark energy and slamming it onto the floor.

The boy avoided the attack and saw that a dark portal opened a pool of dark energy at the point of impact.

Rising from the pool were more of the strange child-size shadow creatures the boy had fought up until now.

"More of these things?!" the boy asked himself in annoyance.

The small creatures charge at the boy but are quickly defeated.

The dark giant reared its fist back once more.

The redhead was barely able to dodge the strike in time.

The monster kept its fist held to the floor and the boy saw an opening. He jumped onto its arm and ran up the limb.

When he reached the giant's shoulder he stabbed his sword into the monster's soulless yellow eye using all of his strength.

The beast roared in pain as its black, mist-like blood spurted out of the now empty socket. It grabbed the boy and threw him off of its shoulder causing him to lose his sword and shield when he hit the floor.

The redhead lay on the ground, in too much pain to move.

The black-skinned giant looked down at the boy with it towering stature.

The redhead looked on in fear as the giant began to reach for him. But unbeknownst to him a pool of dark energy opened up directly under him. The mysterious voice echoed within his head.

**-But don't be afraid.**

Tendrils of darkness began to wrap around the boy as he tried to crawl away.

**You hold the mightiest weapon of all.**

He continued his attempt to escape, though it was to no avail.

The monster reached closer towards him.

**So don't forget.**

The boy looked back just as he was fully engulfed by the darkness. In that moment he locked eyes with the giant and saw nothing but emptiness and unending hunger. And then everything went black.

**You are the one who will open the door.**

And then everything was silent.

**End of Prologue**

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**Authors**** Note**

Titano Man XIII: I hoped you enjoyed the prologue of Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts. Now the beginning of this fan fiction will be very close to the first Kingdom Hearts but with enough differences to still make it my own. In fact this story will run along the first game, though only after a three-year time skip. Now this story will be featuring Anime and other Video Game worlds of my choosing. Obvious hints to which Anime are seen in this chapter. The girls seen are four of the thirteen women that are important to the plot. They are this fan fiction's equivalent to the Seven Princesses of Heart but not exactly, since they exist simultaneously with them, and there are thirteen of them. Though I'll give you a hint... They are either all important to the events of their respective worlds, are powerful warriors, or have high social standings within them. Well, twelve of them are. The last one's an Original Character. I may include Disney characters in future chapters, but not too many. If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to leave a review or PM me. I'm also open to suggestions. So with that I say farewell for now.

Sora: See you guys later!


	2. Chapter 1: The Forests of Serenity

Titano Man XIII: Hello lost children of Fan Fiction Land! It's me again here to bring you the next installment of Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts! Now, I must warn you that the first few chapters of this story will be very close or almost exactly like how Kingdom Hearts 1 started. That's because I used the game as overall reference, and I would like to state that I have no ownership over it.

Kairi: Um, didn't you use cut scenes and game play for your material?

Titano Man XIII: Well, yes, but that is only for the first few chapters. I'm trying to show the innocence that was in the beginning of KH1 before I go to the darker side of things.

Sora: Hey, I just thought of something.

Titano Man XIII: And that would be?

Sora: Am I gonna be helping your guys on there journey?

Titano Man XIII: I glad you asked that Sora. The answer would be No!

Sora: Huh, why not?

Titano Man XIII: I don't want people to automatically assume that you're the hero and that my characters have minor roles in this story. My characters are the stars here. In fact, you, Riku, Kairi, and other characters that appeared in KH1 wont physically appear until near the end of it.

Kairi: That long?!

Titano Man XIII: Yep! But that doesn't mean that you guys have minor roles or anything. You're just important minor characters.

Riku: Which world are we meeting your characters in?

Titano Man XIII: In Hollow Bastion. This story will be happening simultaneously with KH1 and the two journeys will eventually meet up at the end for the final battle against the darkness.

Sora: So I will help your characters.

Titano Man XIII: Why, Yes. Yes you will. Kairi, will you give the disclaimer?

Kairi: Got it! Titano Man XIII does not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, Or any of the following anime, shows and/or games: Naruto, Bleach, Rosario + Vampire, Soul Eater, Avatar the Last Airbender, 8 Bit Theater Chaos, The Legend of Spyro/Skylanders: Spyro's adventure, Sonic Colors, SoulCalibur V, Devil May Cry 1, 2, 3, or 4, Arc the lad: Twilight of the Spirits, Panzer Dragoon: Orta, and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as well as anything else he decides to put into this story. But all the original characters in this story are his property.

Titano Man XIII: Start the chapter! oh, and please leave a review. I want to know how I did.

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**Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts**

**Chapter 1: The Forests of Serenity**

"_Childhood, after all, is the first precious coin that poverty steals from a child."- Anthony Horowitz, The House of Silk: A Sherlock Holmes Novel._

* * *

The scene opens to a bright star filled sky hanging above a giant mile high tree that rested on top of a large hill that was covered by its massive roots. It overlooked a large sleeping forest.

Just then a beautiful meteor shower lit up the sky.

_**Long ago, the world was united and filled with a warm light.**_

_**People loved the light, and eventually began fighting over it.**_

_**Then, darkness found its way into people's hearts. Darkness consumed the hearts and light of the people, and in a flash, it spread... The world disappeared into the darkness.**_

_**But a glimmer of light remained in the hearts of children...**_

_**Children gathered their glimmers and recreated the world.**_

_**The re-created world, however, was no longer united... It was divided into several smaller worlds.**_

_**Because the true light was still hidden deep within the darkness...**_

As the meteor shower came to an end the scene faded to black.

* * *

It was day now and lying unconscious at the base of the great tree was a tiny six year old girl with short blue-gray hair.

As the sun shone onto her she opened her eyes and saw a boy around the same age as her looking down at her in concern. The only feature she could see from the boy was the mess of spiky red hair he had.

"Who... are you?" asked the boy. "Where did you come from...?" he asked just as the girl lost consciousness.

_**Once upon a time, a light fell from the sky.**_

_**The light was small and fragile, so the people sought to protect it.**_

_**They vowed that no darkness would take the light and the happiness that it would bring.**_

_**That light was a small girl. A child whose heart was purer than freshly fallen snow.**_

_**Her light brought life to the once quiet world.**_

_**But that light would one day be threatened by a great darkness that would seek to snuff it out.**_

The scene then faded to black.

* * *

After several moments pass the sound of birds chirping and the sound of tree branches rustling in the breeze was heard.

A moment later the scene cleared to show a partly cloudy sky.

Sleeping at the base of the giant tree was a boy around the age of twelve with spiky red hair. He wore a white tee shirt, light blue jeans, and blue-gray shoes. The branches of the tree cast shadows over him as the sun shone through them.

The boy opened his eyes, revealing them to be a bright emerald green, and saw the sun shining brightly through the branches. He sat up and looked around before lying back down with a yawn.

Just as the back of his head touched the ground a petite young girl around the age of twelve with hair that was a mix of blue and gray, along with large eyes that were like that of a Lapis Lazuli with little flecks of white to complete the illusion of looking into the endless night, came into view. She wore a simple knee-length baby blue dress and a pair of blue flats. She looked down at the boy with a small smile on her face.

"Whoa!" the boy exclaimed as he bolted upright.

The girl giggled at her friend's reaction.

"Very funny Celia." the redhead said as he got onto his knees.

"Ignis you lazy bum! I had a feeling that I'd find you snoozing down here." Celia said as her smile grew a little larger.

"No! This huge, black _thing_ swallowed me up! I couldn't breathe, I couldn't-ow!" Ignis said as the bluenette hit him on the head.

"Are you still dreaming?" Celia asked as she bent forward to look him in the eyes. Her tone suggested that she didn't believe him.

"It wasn't a dream!" Ignis said defensively. "Or was it? I don't know." he said wondering if the dream was real or not.

The wind blew gently around the two of them as they stayed silent for a moment.

"What was that place." he asked himself out loud. "So bizarre..." he said feeling a little freaked out.

"Yeah, sure." Celia said dismissively as she began to walk past her friend and down the hill.

"Say, Celia, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up." he asked as she continued to walk away only to stop a few feet away from him.

"I told you before, I don't remember." she said slightly annoyed that that not just Ignis, but all of her friends would keep asking that question prompting her to keep giving the same answer.

"Nothing at all?" Ignis asked trying to see if he could coax some sort of repressed memory from her.

Celia blinked and thought for a moment. "Nothing." she said with a slight shrug of her shoulders.

"I see. Do you ever want to go back?" he asked in curiosity.

Celia again thought for a moment before answering."Hmm, Well I'm happy here." said the bluenette.

"Really..." said the redhead.

"But you know..." she said suddenly. "I wouldn't mind going to see it." the girl said with a small twinge of hope in her voice. She, like the rest of her friends, was curious about where she had come from.

"I'd like to see it too." Ignis said in agreement. "Along with any other worlds out there! I want to see 'em all!" he said with a little excitement in his voice.

Celia looked back at her friend with a smile on her face. "So what are we waiting for?" she asked excitedly.

"Hey!" said a young boy's voice from behind then. "Aren't you forgetting about me?" he asked as the two kids turned around.

They saw a boy around the age of twelve with short spiked back dark brown hair and azure colored eyes. He wore a simple black tee shirt, a pair of light gray jeans, black fingerless gloves, black shoes, and a large over-sized light gray long sleeved hooded sweater that belonged to his late father tied around his waist. And in the boy's arm was a log.

Standing behind him to his right was a young girl around the age of eleven that was half a head shorter than the boy with straight mid-back-length black hair and golden-amber eyes. She wore a simple white knee-length dress and a pair of dark gray shoes. In her arms were several tarps and blanket.

"So..." the brunet said as he stared at his two friends. "I guess Angela and I are the only ones working on the wagon." he said with a mock sigh.

"See! I told you that they would dump all of the work on us while they'd just laze about like bums!" the ravenette, Angela said with a pout.

The two children standing before Celia and Ignis are their childhood friends Aeros Zoromaki and his younger sister Marie Angela Zoromaki, though everyone just calls her Angela.

The now named Aeros walked past Ignis and threw the log he was carrying to him.

The redhead fell onto his back as he caught the large piece of wood causing Angela to giggle at his expense.

Aeros continued walking until he stood in front of Celia. He was a whole head taller than her which caused said girl to look up at him.

"And you little sister," he said as he poked the girl softly on her forehead with his right index and middle fingers. "Are just as lazy as he is!" he said in a mock scolding tone as he put his hands on his hips.

Celia couldn't help but giggle at her big brother's antics. "So you noticed." she said feeling a little embarrassed. "Okay' we'll finish it together." the bluenette said excitedly.

When Celia was found wounded at the base of the giant tree they now stood under six years before, she was brought to Aeros' mother, who was the town doctor, to be treated for her injuries. After a while the woman fell in love with the little girl and decided to adopt her into her family. Ever since Aeros has become very protective of the blue haired child and treated her as if she was actually his flesh and blood sibling.

"I'll race you!" she challenged as her surrogate brother and sister sat down next to their red haired friend on the giant tree-topped knoll.

"Huh?" Ignis said in confusion.

"Hmm?" Angela asked as she stared at her big sister. Apparently she wasn't paying attention.

"What, are you kidding?" the brunet asked in disbelief.

"Ready? Go!" the girl shouted and both Aeros and Ignis shot up off of the ground and raced each other down the hill immediately followed by both Angela and Celia. Both of whom were laughing in merriment as they tried to catch up to the two over-competitive boys.

**Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts**

**The Forests of Serenity**

* * *

After a few minutes the four children entered a small forest clearing where a large covered wagon big enough to fit a small group of people sat waiting for completion.

"Wow! It's finally finished! Our ticket to the outside world!" Ignis said as he put down several logs.

Suddenly the earth under the redhead's feet trembled causing him to lose his balance and fall face face first onto the ground.

"Yeah... No thanks to you Ignis!" a petite young girl said in amusement as she walked into the clearing followed by two other girls and two boys. All five of them were carrying food and medical supplies.

The girl in front of the group looked to be no taller that Celia although she was actually the oldest child there. She was around the age of fourteen with long black hair that was pulled up to look short and held up by a yellow and green headband with two little white puff balls on the sides of her head just above her ears, She had two chin-length bangs framing the sides of her face and three smaller bangs falling between her green eyes. Said eyes were without light, pale, and unfocused showing that the girl was in fact blind. She wore a light green tee shirt under a light yellow vest, light green shorts, and a black bracelet made from a "carved" meteorite. She wore no shoes as she preferred to walk barefoot. This girl was Toph Bei Fong, a young mysterious young Geomancer who was saved from drowning by Aeros during the winter several months before after suddenly appearing in town. She said that she was training up in the mountains to the south of the village when she was ambushed by several flying monsters and lost a large majority of her memories with the exception of her name, age, and all of her Geomancer skills. She can bend the very earth to her will using a specialized form of martial arts though many around town would say she was performing a special dance in order to manipulate the earth, thus earning her the title the Dancing Geomancer. A title that annoys her to no end.

The second girl in the group looked to be around the age of twelve with long slightly curly mint green hair pulled into a ponytail by a light purple ribbon and violet colored eyes. She wore a red dress with a purple sash wrapped around her waist, red boots, and red wristbands. Wrapped tightly in her arms was a stuffed Moogle doll which she affectionately calls Mog. This girl is Terra Branford. She is one of Ignis' closest childhood friends along with Aeros, Celia, and Angela. Being the daughter and granddaughter of two of the town's most important people, the town's citizens treat her with a lot of love and respect.

The third girl was around the age of eleven with medium length red hair and ruby red eyes. She wore a white long sleeved blouse with a vest, black leggings, thigh-high brown with white cuffs, and a golden cross shaped brooch. This is Refia, the daughter to a local Mythril Smith named Takka. She recently began training under Aeros' mother to become a great healer though she does her best to carry on the family business like her father wishes. According to Aeros' mother this young redhead has the makings of a top class White Mage whose healing skills could surpass even her own.

One of the boys had long silver hair pulled into a ponytail and violet eyes. He wore a purple turtleneck sweater covered by a dark sweatshirt and a brown leather vest. He wore long white pants, knee-high black boots, brown gloves, and carried a yellow fanny pack. This young lad was Luneth, a young boy aspiring to be a great warrior. He often goes out to explore the lands that surround the town in which he lives. Though he has explored the valley in which the forest and subsequent town rests, he has yet to explore the mountain pass that connects their valley to the outside world. This is mostly due in part to the many strong monsters that reside within the mountain's pass.

And the last boy had short brown hair, brown eyes, and freckles. He wore a yellow shirt covered by a long green coat, a white mantle, and a yellow scarf. He wore a pair of brown fingerless gloves, a pair of fitted black pants, and brown knee-high boots with white cuffs. This boy is named Arc. He is Luneth's best friend, but unlike Luneth, he would rather read and practice magic than go exploring. Due to his bookworm-like nature he is often the target of many of the town's bullies, which prompts Luneth to frequently come to his aid. He aspires to one day be a famous Black Mage renowned for his great skill in the mystic arts.

"Yeah! You two are always goofing around... You weren't off scarfing down any Kokoro fruit now were you?" Refia asked teasingly as she put her hands on her hips.

Both the bluenette and the redhead blushed darkly at the allegation.

"O-of course we weren't! 'Sides Aeros would kill me if I shared one with his little sister." Ignis said as he pointed at the brunet standing behind him with his thumb.

"You're darn right I would!" Aeros said with a slight scowl. Now don't get the boy wrong. Ignis was like a brother to him. But he couldn't just trust the heart and life of his adopted sister to just anybody unless they prove to him that they would do everything in their power to keep her happy and healthy for the rest of her life. Though at times his over-protectiveness tends to drive away any and all possible suitors.

"Refia. Please don't joke about that kind of stuff." Terra said with a light blush dusting her cheeks. Now not many know this but Terra Branford has a very large crush on Ignis. If you want a sort of perspective on this, compare it to Hinata Hyūga's crush on Naruto, only without the supposed stalking. But unlike Hinata, Terra was able to hide it very well. The only people who know about her true feelings towards the redhead are her grandmother, Aeros' mother, Aeros, Angela... eh, actually... almost everyone in town knew of her crush, everyone... but Ignis. Let's just say that Terra's grandmother isn't the best at keeping secrets.

"What? It's not my fault they're so uptight." Refia said teasingly.

"Okay guys. Enough Chocobo play." Aeros said while clapping his hands to get everyone's attention. "We still need to get the last of the supplies we need for the trip." the brunet said as his azure eyes scanned the group before him.

"Aeros is right. If we don't get the right supplies then we won't last a week out there." said Arc.

"Couldn't have said it better myself Arc." praised Aeros.

"Uh, thanks." the younger brunet said feeling a little bit bashful.

"Okay, so let's get going!" Angela said excitedly as she started pushing her older brother along down the path.

"What-hey! Angela! Hey! Don't push me!" the older boy kept shouting protests until he was out of earshot. (Titano Man XIII: *sweat drop* And he's the leader of this group.)

Everyone soon left to gather more supplies and only Ignis and Celia were left in the clearing.

The redhead walked over to girl with blue-gray hair.

"Can you gather the rest of the things? We need two _logs_, one _rope_, and one _cloth_. Ignis, are you paying attention?" Celia said as she saw her friend staring up at the sky.

"Of course I am!" the boy said defensively.

"Okay then. Make sure to bring everything back here once you find it. Ask if you need any help." she said as the boy ran off.

"Will do!" he shouted back as he disappeared from view.

* * *

Ignis was soon able to find all of the required items in record time though he stopped a couple of times to challenge Luneth, Arc and Refia to a respective sparring match with each of them. As it turns out even though Arc and Refia are studying to be Mages, they certainly knew how to wield melee and ranged weaponry.

'_Man those staffs hurt._' the boy thought as he rubbed a sore spot from where Refia had struck him with her magic staff. It didn't help that the staff was made of pure oak and was as long as the girl's body. '_Mental note never underestimate a White Mage._' he thought with a wince.

Even though he had won all three matches, each opponent fought with a different style and set of tactics. Luneth was a straightforward fighter and usually kept on the offensive. Ignis had to block many time in order to find an opening. Arc was an easier opponent in comparison. He usually kept his distance and tried to hit Ignis with his bow and arrows. the redhead had spent most of the battle dodging the incoming projectiles as he closed in on the brunet. Refia was harder to beat than Arc, but wasn't as hard as Luneth. She spent much of the battle blocking and evading Ignis' attacks and moving in to attack when she saw an opening. That battle lasted the longest of the three since she kept healing herself when her HP got low.

"Refia doesn't look that strong but man does she hit hard!" the boy grounded out before hearing voices in the distance. "Huh? It sounds like someone's talking over there." he muttered before walking over to the source of the sound.

The voices soon led him to the giant tree that sat atop the hill in the center of the forest.

'_Who could be arguing up there?_' the redhead thought as he began his ascent up the hill.

When he reached the top he was surprised to see two boys arguing with each other while two girls stood off to the side unsure of what to do.

All four appeared to be around fourteen or so years old.

One of the boys had tanned skin, very dark brown hair and dark brown eyes as well as a very odd appearance. He seemed to be half dragon since he had light blue-green scales covering his neck, left cheek, the left side of his abdomen, his right shoulder, and his entire left arm, sharp claws (left hand only), large bony spikes jutting out of his shoulders, an odd crescent shaped tribal tattoo on his right arm, pointed ears, brown horns curving to the back of his head, and a pair of large bat-like wings coming from his back. All he appeared to wear was a long red tribal kilt with a red and yellow sash wrapped around his waist and a pair of opened toed sandals.

The other boy on the other hand appeared to be a normal looking boy with brown hair and brown eyes. He wore a yellow sleeveless vest that was blue from the shoulders up, long separate blue sleeves, a pair of blue shorts, a pair of blue boots, and a sword strapped to his waist.

The girl had long brown hair that was tied into a braid and draped over her left shoulder and dark brown eyes. She wore a dark brown bolero jacket with a white hood over a red dress, a long dark brown glove covering her entire right arm, a shorter dark brown glove on her left hand, black leggings, a small black bag wrapped around her waist, brown boots, a silver shoulder pad on her left shoulder, and what appeared to be an odd looking knife that was tied to a long thin wire and had a red tassel at the end.

And the last girl had short brown hair with long bangs that reached her collarbones and framed her face and brown eyes. She wore a blue tunic with yellow linings, transparent sleeves, and a red sash, a green amulet, long fingerless lavender gloves, long toe-less lavender socks, a red cloth with many markings on it wrapped around her waist, though it only went to her knees, and brown leather sandals.

"Admit it! We're lost!" the normal looking boy shouted irately.

"We are not lost!" the dragon-boy hybrid shouted hotly. "I'm just having trouble figuring out which direction to go in." the boy muttered as he looked away with his arm crossed. An irritated expression marring his features.

"Darc... we _are_ lost." the brunette dressed in blue said as she looked at the now named Darc.

The boy sputtered in disbelief as he looked at the girl. "Not you too Lilia!" he said in shock.

The girl, Lilia, merely shrugged her shoulders sheepishly.

The boy in blue groaned in irritation. "Lousy Deimos. Have no sense direction."

"What was that you Human bastard!" Darc growled through gritted teeth as he glared at the other boy.

"I said that you keep getting us lost Darc!" the boy said with a scowl as he returned the glare with an equal amount of vigor.

"Why you!" Darc said gearing up for a fight.

"Ah, Kharg, Darc, please no fighting we have to find a town soon otherwise we'll all die out here." the brunette dressed in red and brown said as she got in between the two boys.

The two boys seemed to calm somewhat and turned away from each other, but not before throwing one last glare at each other.

"You're right. Sorry Paulette." Kharg said apologetically.

"So how do we find the next town?" Lilia asked feeling a little nervous.

"I think I can help you guys with that." the children jumped when they heard Ignis' voice.

They turned to see the redhead walk up to them.

"Where the hell did you come from?" Darc asked threateningly.

"Do you live around here?" Kharg asked as he stood protectively in front of Lilia and Paulette.

"Yeah. I live in a town about a mile up north of here." the older boy said softly as he slowly walked towards the group. He was afraid that if he made any sudden movements that they would either run off or attack him. "Where did you guys come from?" he asked as he stopped no more than a foot away from the four.

"A few days ago our caravan passed through a road that went through the mountains to the south of here. We were doing just fine when all of a sudden a bunch of Orcs and other monsters showed up and... Well, you get the idea." the blue clad brunet said sadly.

"I see." Ignis said in understanding. '_They must have gone through the Orc's Road. It used to be very easy for travelers to get through the pass without trouble. But now it's very tough to get through it without the proper supplies._' he thought feeling sympathetic to the four kids. "Well how about I lead you guys into town and take you four to the doctor so you can all get patched up. You'll like her she's really nice." the redhead said with a grin.

The four older children looked at each other before nodding in agreement.

"Great! Now follow me and don't wander off." he said as he turned around and started walking north but he quickly stopped when he realized something. "Oh wait! I don't know your names. Mine's Ignis by the way. Ignis Bravehart. What are yours?" he asked as he turned around to look at the small group in front of him.

"My name's Kharg." said the boy clad in blue.

"It's nice to meet you Kharg." Ignis said with a smile as he shook the boy's hand.. "And you are?" the older boy asked while looking at Lilia.

"My name is Lilia." the blue clad brunette said a little shyly.

"Well it's nice to meet you Lilia." Ignis said with a grin causing the girl to blush a little.

"My name's Paulette. It's nice to meet you Ignis." Paulette said politely.

"You too, Paulette." said the redhead. "And you are?" he asked Darc in a friendly tone.

"Like I would give my name to a human." the young Deimos said coldly.

Lilia then smacked Darc upside the head and pouted at his rude behavior.

"Sorry about him. He has trust issues. And his name is Darc by the way." Paulette said with a friendly smile.

Darc started muttering under his breath about nosy humans and about how weak they were.

"Well now that we have all been introduced to each other, let's get going." Ignis said with a grin as he led the group off to town.

The group of four soon left the hill and walked to the town. On the way they passed by the clearing where Ignis dropped off the supplies he had gathered. And after some brief introductions and a few curious questions from Celia about Darc's appearance, they made their way to the nearby town of Serenity.

Pretty soon they reached the home of the town doctor, who as stated earlier was Aeros' mother. And after explaining the situation to the woman she agreed to treat the kids (free of charge of course) and to watch over them until they can be either placed into a proper home or are capable of journeying off on their own. After a few brief goodbyes and about a thousand thank you from Lilia, the redhead made his way back to the clearing where no doubt everyone was waiting for him.

* * *

By the time Ignis returned it was close to sunset.

"'Bout time you got back Ignis! What took you so long?!" Angela said with her arms crossed impatiently in front of her chest. Her cheeks were puffed out cutely in annoyance.

"Heh, sorry. I got a little side tracked." the boy said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head and had a sheepish grin on his face.

After that everyone started talking about their day on their way to the lake near the forest.

Everyone now sat on the shore watching the sunset as the water lapped against the sand.

"So, Celia's home is out there somewhere, right?" Ignis asked as he looked to Aeros.

"Could be." the brunet answered as he sharpened a stick with a pocket knife. "We'll never really know by staying here." he said as watched the sun slowly set behind the mountains.

"But how far do you think the wagon could take us after we make it through the Orc's Pass?" Arc asked in slight worry. He didn't want to run out of supplies while they were out in the middle of nowhere.

"Who knows?" the boy dismissively. "If we have to, we'll think of something else." he said as he kept whittling at the piece of wood.

Toph blew some of her hair from her face. "So pretty boy, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?" the blind girl asked as she laid back onto the sand, resting her head on her hands.

"Hmm... Well, I haven't really thought about it." he said with a shrug as he pocketed the knife and threw the stick away. "It's just... I've always wondered why we're here in this valley surrounded by mountains. If there are any other worlds out there, beyond those mountains, why did _we_ end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a little piece of something much greater." he said as he put his hands behind his head and laid back onto the sand. "So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?" he said as he closed his eyes.

"I don't know." Ignis said indifferently as he too laid back onto the sand and rested his head on his hands.

"Exactly." replied the leader of the group.

Angela puffed out her cheeks feeling annoyed by Ignis' indifference. "That was very profound big brother." she said in a complimentary tone.

"Thanks." said the brunet. "Anyways, that's why we need to go out there and find out." he said as he got up off of the ground and walked close enough towards the lake that his feet were practically touching the water. "Just sitting here won't change a thing. It's the same old stuff, not that I don't mind it of course. It's just that I feel that there's something greater out there, you know? So let's go." he said with absolute conviction.

"You've been thinking a lot lately, haven't you?" Celia asked as she stared at surrogate brother.

"Thanks to you." he said as he turned around to look at his adopted sister. "If you hadn't come here all those years ago, I probably never would have thought of any of this. Celia, thanks." he said with the utmost sincerity.

Celia giggled "You're welcome." the bluenette said with an angelic smile.

* * *

Later on all of the children were making their way home.

"Hey, Ignis." Aeros called out from behind his friend.

The redhead turned just in time to catch a small pink heart shaped fruit.

"You wanted one didn't you?" the brunet said as he pointed at the piece of fruit.

"A Kokoro fruit?" the boy asked in confusion.

"Uh, yeah." Aeros said with a deadpanned look on his face. "Legend has it that if two people share one, then their destinies become intertwined." The boy said with a small smirk on his face as he walked past his friend with his eyes closed. "They'll remain a part of each others lives no matter what." he said in amusement as if he found the superstition funny. "C'mon, I know you want to try it. You know who won't be waiting for you forever." he said as he wave goodbye without turning around.

"What are you talking-" he tried to ask through his shock and confusion only for his best friend to laugh at him and keep on walking with his eyes still closed, a small smirk on his face, and his thumbs hooked into his pockets like a boss.

Normally Ignis probably would have thrown the small fruit away. But instead he put the piece of produce into his pocket and ran after his friend.

The sun then fully set behind the mountains and the scene faded to black.

* * *

The scene then shifted to a large lavish castle. This castle was the capital of the country of Cornelia.

**Play Theme Castle Cornelia**

Within the castle walking towards the main throne room was a man dress in a floor length blue robe and yellow witch's hat. His face was completely obscured and the only feature that could be seen were his glowing yellow eyes. This was Gilles the Black Mage. One of the six Warriors of Light that defeated the darkness that had threatened this world many years ago. (T. : I know there were really four but it just felt so right to have six of them like in other modern Final Fantasy titles.)

'_Ah, what a day. First I Hadoukened the old folk's home into next Tuesday and then I was able to make off with over a hundred thousand Gil and pinned it all on Baku! Diplomatic immunity is great._' the Mage thought in a sort of synthesized voice. (T. : If you want a clue then he has the same voice and personality as the Black Mage from 8 bit Theater Chaos. Actually, it is the same Black Mage from 8 bit Theater Chaos. All I did was just give him a name. I just really love that show. Oh by the way I don't own that.)

"Let's see. What's on the to do list for today?" he asked himself as he walked past several castle servants. He pulled out a piece of paper and began checking off the things he has already done. "Let's see... Pick up groceries... Check. Hadouken the old folks home... Check. Frame Baku the Thief, for a crime he didn't commit... Check. Incinerate all of KluYa the Red Mage's strategy books... Check. Stab Baron the Warrior A.K.A. Fighter... Double Check. Troll King Leon... Oh, I'm going to enjoy this." the cloaked man said as he began to chuckle evilly.

After a few minutes he came upon a set of doors big enough for a giant to go through. He cleared his throat and knocked on the door only for a normal sized door to open in front of him. He entered the grand hallway that was the throne room.

"Well now I know where the Black Mage Guild's funding went." Black Mage said as he began walking down the hall. "Good morning, Your Majesty." the spell caster said with a slight bow of his head.

"It's nice to see you this morn- What!" he said as he mentally prepared several zingers in his head, only to stop when he saw that the throne was empty. "Okay. Where the fuggin hell is King Leon?! I came to give that pompous knight his well-deserved trolling and he isn't even here to get it." the enraged Black Mage ranted as he paced about. But before he could cause any sort property damage with his magic he noticed that a Chocobo came out from behind the throne with a letter in its beak.

The Black Mage took the letter then proceeded to read it. He read it several more times just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. He blinked once, twice, three times.

Five seconds later Gilles the Black Mage was running down the halls in panic. "Fug! Fug! Fug! Fug! Fug!" he shouted as he ran like a bat outta hell.

Meanwhile down in the castle gardens the man known as Baron the Warrior A.K.A. Fighter was sleeping soundly without a care in the world. Fighter was a man with windswept spiky red hair and aquamarine eyes. He is known as the least intelligent member of the Light Warriors. But despite that he is strong, kind, noble, honorable, honest, steadfast, chivalrous, and all of those other knightly things. He just doesn't have the intelligence of one. (Titano Man XIII: Yes, it is indeed Fighter from 8 bit Theater Chaos.)

Within moments Gilles had arrived and stood next to the sleeping knight.

"Wake up, Baron, wake up! This is serious!" the cloaked mystic shouted to the still sleeping warrior.

"Zzz... Zzz... Zzz..." Fighter was unresponsive to any and all shouting.

"That's it! Bolt 3!" Black Mage shouted and a large bolt of lightning came down and struck the redhead.

"Yow!" the red clad hero yelled as he bolted (No pun intended) upright.

"Fighter! I have a matter of grave consequence that I must discuss with you!" BM (Titano Man XIII: Don't you dare make fun of the abbreviation!) said urgently.

"And a fine good afternoon to you too Sir. Gilles. You know you could've splashed me with cold water are shaken me like a rag doll, or stabbed me. You know, like you always do." the light warrior said in a friendly voice. No matter what Black Mage did to him, he would never bear any ill will towards him.

"I could have. But then where would the fun in that be?" the mystic said with a shrug.

"Charming as always my friend." Fighter said with a smile. "Now what is this, oh so important matter?" asked the red clad knight.

"In a minute. Where are Baku and KluYa?" asked the master of Black Magic.

"Last I heard, Baku was being chased by the guards for robbing the bank. And that KluYa went to the market to buy some more strategy guides after his last collection was mysteriously incinerated." the hero explained causing the Black Mage to snicker.

"Well it looks like we'll have to look for the idiots." said the cloaked schemer. (Titano Man XIII: I know that title's taken but he just comes across as one.)

"No need gentlemen for we are right here!" an intellectual male voice said directly behind Black Mage. (Titano Man XIII: And F.Y.I. It's the same Thief and Red Mage from 8 Bit Theater Chaos.)

"What the fug!" BM shouted in surprise and turned around to glare at his two old companions. "How long were you two standing there?!" he said having half a mind to Fire 3 the red clad warrior and glorified crook into nothing but ashes.

KluYa the Red Mage was a powerful warrior with long white hair and blue eyes. A jack-of-all-trades sort of character. He is most well-known for his long convoluted strategies, his obsession with EXP and status boosts, and his red feathered hat.

Baku the Thief was an attractive looking man with short spiky blond hair covered by a green bandana and brown eyes. He wore a green tunic over a red shirt, green pants, green wrist bands, and a pair of red boots. As the most cunning of the light warriors he can get out of almost any situation with nothing but his wits. The most dangerous weapon he has in his possession is not a dagger or a sword, but his silver tongue.

"Why the whole time my friend. I just boosted my stealth stat so that I could sneak Baku and I in here undetected." Red Mage said in a proud tone.

"Whatever, we've got a problem boys, and it's top secret. So don't tell anyone." Gilles said in a quiet tone.

"Queen Sarah." said Baron.

"Nope. Not even the queen!" said the dark mystic.

"White Mage." said Baku.

"NO, it's top secret!" the spell caster yelled in annoyance.

"Good afternoon ladies." Baron, Baku, and KluYa said at the same time.

Black Mage became rigid and slowly turned around to behold the site of Queen Sarah of Cornelia and one of the of the Light Warriors, Sarina the White Mage. (Titano Man XIII: And yes she too is from 8 Bit Theater Chaos.)

Queen Sarah was a beautiful woman with long mint green hair and blue eyes. She had a golden ornamental headband with a large red jewel and a golden pendant with a similar jewel on it. She wore a floor-length white dress that leaves the shoulders bare and had long sleeves.

The White Mage had long blonde hair with hazel eyes. She wore the standard White Mage cloak though unlike other White Mages, whose cloaks make them appear to be androgynous, hers was more form fitting, and her hood was down. She had a figure most women would die for and, much to Black Mages pleasure was very well endowed.

Sarina then cleared her throat in an expectant manner obviously wanting an explanation.

'_Oh fug._' Black Mage thought nervously. The scene faded to black as the mystic chuckled nervously.

**End theme.**

* * *

The scene then changed to a small bedroom.

Ignis was lying on his bed staring at the small pink fruit in his hand. The words of his best friend echoed in his mind.

'_C'mon, I know you want to try it._'

'_You know who won't be waiting for you forever._'

"Who was he talking about?" the boy asked confused by his friend's vagueness. '_Did he mean Celia? Or was he talking about Terra? Do one of them have a crush on me._' thought growing more frustrated with his lack of answers. "Kokoro fruit..." he blushed at the thought of sharing it with either girl. Ignis had always found both girls to be very attractive but he always had trouble deciding which one was prettier than the other. "Man... What a fairy tale!" he said as he threw the fruit across the room. Luckily it landed on a pile of dirty laundry. "G'night." the red haired boy said as he pulled his blanket over his head and went to sleep.

* * *

Later on that night Aeros was sleeping not so peacefully in his bed.

**You are the one who will open the door.**

His eyes snapped open and he sat up in his bed.

'_What kind of dream was that?_' he thought as he wiped some sweat off of his brow.

He looked at the clock in his room and saw that it was almost midnight.

'_I need a drink._' the brunet thought tiredly as he got up from his bed.

He grabbed a candle and lit it and left his room. Before he started walking down the hall he noticed that the door to Celia's room was opened a crack. Feeling his brotherly instincts coming into play he spied through the crack to see his adopted sister sleeping peacefully with a small stuffed, blue, Chocobo doll wrapped snugly in her arms and a content smile on her face.

'_It's hard to believe that we'll be leaving all of this behind._' Aeros thought as he stared at his sister. '_You know, if you hadn't mysteriously shown up here all of those years ago, then I probably wouldn't have even considered leaving. Well, I mean, why would I want to? This world is small, quiet, and peaceful. I could spend my entire life here and focus on making sure you live a happy life._' he thought with a serene smile. '_But then... there would be whole new experiences that I would miss out on._' he thought as his smile disappeared. As he closed the door he made a silent vow that he would do everything in his power to protect his little sister from anything that could hurt her. With determination set in his eyes he closed the door and moved on.

He soon stopped in front of the door that led into Angela's room.

'_It's odd. Out of everyone that's coming along only Angela seems to be the most excited about leaving._' he felt curious as to why his younger sister always followed his every lead and order without question. He barely remembered why he always kept her by his side. But he knew something terrible would happen if she wasn't. '_It's weird, but Angela has been following me around for as long as I can remember. It's not that I don't mind her company, but I can't help but wonder how her social life is when I'm not around._' he thought before moving on.

After tiptoeing by his mother's room, he reached the stairs leading to the first floor. Aeros and his sisters lived in a pretty big home. This is mostly due to the fact that the young boy's mother was not only the town's doctor but she also ran a daycare for several parents who were too busy to take care of their children full time or just needed time away from the kids. After walking through the family room he reached the hallway that led into the kitchen. Before he could enter the room he heard small footsteps coming up from behind him followed by a small yawn. He turned around and saw that Lilia was standing behind him while rubbing one of her eyes.

"Oh, hi Lilia. What are you doing up at this time of night?" he asked the drowsy girl softly.

"I had a bad dream." she said in a small voice. "What about you?" she asked before giving out a yawn.

"Uh, well I had a dream too." said Aeros.

"Was it a scary one?" she asked with a soft voice.

"Not really. But it wasn't really a good one either." he said honestly.

"Really? What happened?" she asked with curiosity.

"Uh... Well... Hmm... I honestly can't remember most of it." he said with a shrug.

"Oh. My dream was about those monsters." she said in a very meek voice suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

Aeros eyed the girl sympathetically before giving a soft sigh. "Hey, do you want a glass of milk? It'll help you get back to sleep." the brunet said to which the girl nodded a yes. He took her by the hand and led her into the kitchen.

The two walked into the kitchen and flipped on the light. The kitchen was quite large and was connected to the dining room. The room was stocked with all of the necessary modern appliances. From the refrigerator all the ways down to the kitchen sink. But that wasn't what Aeros and Lilia were focusing on. What they were focusing on was the intruder standing in the middle of the kitchen with a large pile of food in their hands. And they even had a chicken leg jammed into their mouth!

The intruder looked to be a girl around the age of Thirteen with short black hair and light brown eyes. But those were pretty much the only human traits she had. In fact shoe was more or less like a humanoid monster. An Orc or something closely resembling one most likely. She had soft rose pink colored skin with small bony white plates covering her in certain places, most noticeably the chest area. She had very sharp nail-like claws on her hands and feet. She had very human-like feet, though with three large clawed toes on each foot and two bony spikes coming out of the back of both of her heels. She had an array of bony spikes coming out of her arms and legs to form makeshift elbow, knee, and shoulder pads. She had a pair of ram-like horns that were the same color as her hair. Even though they were clamped down onto a chicken leg, her teeth were quite sharp. which suggests that she lives off of a mostly meat and protein diet, which was evidenced by the large amounts of meats and protein filled foods in her arms, though there were some fruits here and there as well as several loaves of bread. Curiously enough, she had a long pink tail that was covered in small bony white plates in certain places, mostly towards the base of it, which instead of originating at the base of her spine, it instead originated from in between her shoulder blades. And finally when in terms of clothing, well there are none. What she did wear were dark gray bandages around her forearms and shins, and a dark gray loincloth.

The three of them stared owlishly at each other for what seemed like forever.

The mysterious Orc stood frozen in the center of the room. Aeros stood at the kitchen's entrance with his finger still on the light switch. And Lilia stood behind Aeros staring at the girl with a small amount of fear in her eyes.

The silence dragged on for what seemed like an eternity until Aeros spoke up. "Are you... trying to steal our food?" he asked softly, still not quite sure what he was seeing.

The strange monster, who was still shocked about getting caught, nodded dumbly.

Several more minutes of silence passed before anyone said anything.

"Yoof haw gong ga kiw we, as wa? (You aren't going to kill me, are ya?)" The odd monster asked though her words were muffled due to the peace of poultry stuck in her mouth.

"I-I'm sorry. I couldn't understand you. Do you mind repeating that?" the brunet asked as he slowly walked up to the young she-Orc and removed the chicken leg from her mouth.

"Y-you're not going to kill me, are you?" the mysterious girl asked with a slight stutter and a look of fear in her eyes.

"I'm not going to kill you, but I want to know why you're stealing our food?" he asked while trying to came across as nonthreatening as possible. He definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end of the Orc girl's claws.

Luckily the answer came when the intruder's stomach gave a loud growl.

The young Orc's cheeks became slightly darker because of the sudden noise.

"I see." the boy said somewhat awkwardly.

"Aeros? What are you doing up so late?" the drowsy voice of a woman asked as she walked into the kitchen.

The woman looked to be about seventeen but in fact she was only twenty seven years old. She had long dark brown hair and azure colored eyes. She was quite petite barely topping off at five"five', though she certainly made up for it with both a natural beauty and a figure to rival that of a Goddess. She wore a simple white nightgown that hugged her figure quite nicely. This woman was Samantha Zoromaki. The best healer this town has ever seen and one of the few women to fit the very definition of MILF. She is also Aeros', Angela's, and Celia's mother.

"Mom! We kinda have an... uninvited guest... I think." said the boy.

"Uninvited guest?" she asked before shifting her gaze to the young she-Orc with a pile of food in her arms. "Oh, it's you!" she said in recognition.

"You know her mom?" Aeros asked in surprise.

"Yes. Her name is Delma. And she was a patient I had treated a few years ago." Samantha explained with a small smile on her face.

"Now I remember you! You're that human lady that patched me up when I first came down from the mountains!" the now named Delma said in realization. "No wonder this place felt familiar." she muttered as she looked around a little more closely.

"I don't remember seeing you treat somebody like her. I mean I definitely would have remembered seeing someone with pink skin before." Aeros said as he took a closer look at the pink skinned Orc girl.

"You were staying at Ignis' house for a week while I took care of her. The poor thing was a mess when I found her. And even though I don't like to admit this, I wasn't even sure if I could even save her with the extent of her injuries." the woman said with a sigh. "But she certainly was a tough one. She was able to pull through and make a full recovery in less than a week." she said impressed by the girl's inner strength. "But she disappeared shortly before you got home. I couldn't help but worry about her and wonder if she was alright. I'm glad to know that I worried over nothing." the brunette said with a giggle.

"Yeah well, I guess I would've died if you didn't help me back then." Delma said as she looked away with a slightly darker tint to her face causing the woman to giggle at the she-Orc's proud and headstrong nature.

"So, do you mind telling me why you're taking some of my food?" the mother of three asked with an amused smile.

Delma muttered something in reply.

"I'm sorry, can you repeat that?" asked the older Zoromaki.

"I said I was hungry!" the young she-Orc said with a scowl and a slight blush.

"Well why didn't you say so sooner? Why don't you put all of that down and I'll make you a quick bite to eat." the woman said with a kind smile on her face.

Normally Delma wouldn't trust a human and would do anything and everything to avoid them, but there were two things that made her listen to the woman. One, she was starving. And two, she owed this human her life. So there wasn't much she could do in this situation.

The pink skinned Orc girl nodded albeit reluctantly.

* * *

After a little bit of cleaning up, Aeros and Lilia had gotten something to drink and had gone back to bed, while Delma was eating, er... more like inhaling a couple of sandwiches and the chicken leg from earlier.

"When you said you said you were hungry you weren't kidding." Samantha said slightly bemused by the girl's near voracious appetite.

"Well I haven't had a decent meal in about a week. All the snares I set up are empty and I couldn't find anything else while I was foraging around." the she-Orc said as she finished her meal.

"Well feel free to come by whenever you want something to eat. My door is always open to you." Samantha said with a warm motherly smile.

Delma was shocked by the woman's generosity. "I don't get you." she said as she stood up from the table she was sitting at. "You're not like other humans. Humans are supposed to hate my people and would want nothing to do with us. So why are you so nice to me?" she asked truly curious to the woman's intentions.

"You're different from all of the other Orcs that live up in the mountains. You're not afraid to get too close to human settlement. In fact, you live in the forest less than a mile away from town! And when I look at you, all I see a little girl who just wants a friend to be there for her." the brunette said with a sympathetic smile.

"Don't pretend that you know me human!" Delma said with a growl.

"I know you're an orphan." the woman said causing Delma's rage to die away. "I lost my parents at a young age too. I had to learn really quickly about how to fend for myself. It was hard growing up without them. My only wish was that I got to know them better." she said somberly.

"So what? Are you asking me to come live with you or something?" the she-Orc growled with her head bowed, shadows cast over her eyes.

"That is entirely up to you Delma." Samantha said as she moved to stand before the thirteen year old Orc. "I just want to help you. That's all." she said as she lifted the girl's head so that she could look her in the eyes.

Delma's eyes were laced with tears, but she refused to let them fall.

"Why should I trust you? How do I know you're not lying to me?" she said, her heart wanting so badly to believe this woman's words, but pride and past experiences kept her from accepting any form of love and acceptance from the human no matter how much she wanted it.

"Well what does your heart say?" asked the woman.

"It wants me to trust you." the girl whimpered out softly.

"Then try listening to it. And in the meantime why don't you stay the night so I can prove to you that I have no intention of harming you." she said as she pulled Delma into a warm hug.

The Orc girl's body went completely rigid. She had never been hugged before. And she had no idea what this new feeling that was budding in her chest was. After a moment the young Orc tentatively returned the embrace causing Samantha to smile and tighten her hold on the girl.

"I promise Delma. So long as there is still breath in my lungs, I won't let anything harm you." Aeros' and Angela's mother said as she began to stroke the girl's head.

But unbeknownst to the two, they were being spied on by Angela. But tears of happiness from watching the touching moment and of possibly gaining a new sister did not fill her eyes, instead only anger, jealousy, and betrayal shined in them.

'_Great. Someone else is here to take away mama's attention! That should be me in there! Not her!_' she thought as she gritted teeth in rage. She had come downstairs in hopes of confessing to her mother about the growing pain of loneliness and abandonment that she had been feeling for the last few years and to repair the rift that was beginning to form between them, only to find her comforting that she-Orc instead of her! And as the feelings of jealousy, anger, and betrayal grew stronger, so too did her thoughts grow darker and more twisted. '_And pretty soon that hussy will start taking _my _Aeros' attention away from me, just like Celia_ always_ does._' she thought as her hands curled into fists. '_I can't wait to reach the outside world. Then I could ditch that brat out in the middle of nowhere and have both Aeros and mom all to myself again!_' she thought as a devilish smirk appeared on her smirk disappeared when her thoughts moved back to the Orc in the kitchen. '_But first... I have to get rid of that little bitch who thinks she can just waltz in here and do whatever she wants._' the girl thought darkly with a scowl as she scurried back to her room, thoughts of how to get rid of Delma filling her mind. '_Just one more day Angela._' she thought with a quiet giggle as she began to grin in a slightly insane manner as she re-entered her bedroom.'_One more day and everything will be the way it used to be, the way it's supposed to be. Just me, mama, and big brother!_' she thought as she settled back into bed. '_Soon Celia... Soon you'll get what's coming to you. After all..._' Her manic grin became even more twisted and insane as her eyes fluttered shut. "The door... is opening." she muttered gleefully before drifting off to sleep.

Outside, the moon hung ominously in the sky as it glowed a bloody red, signifying the dark times that were sure to come.

**End of chapter One.**

* * *

**Author's notes**

**Play Historia Crux theme**

Titano Man XIII: Whoa I think I made Angela come out a little darker than I intended. But it worked out in the end. And if you people are wondering about her sudden and extreme personality change, then I'll let you know that her case is the same as a mister Jin Kisaragi from BlazBlue. You see, Angela's descent to into madness isn't as sudden as you might think. Like Jin, it happened gradually and over time. In fact in the beginning, Angela really wanted an actual big sister and was excited when Celia first arrived. But Celia, like Saya, was, and still quite is, a frail child. Almost constantly since her arrival Celia would grow seriously ill. And both Aeros and his mother would take care of her until she got better. Because she was too young to understand why her mother and brother would spend more time with Celia than with her, she began to grow jealous and resentful of the girl and strove to regain some of that lost attention. But as the years passed her jealousy and resentment only grew. This was due in part of Aeros babying Celia, which caused him to pay less attention to her in order to take care of the fragile girl and the darkness in her own heart affecting her thoughts and judgment. She soon deluded herself into thinking that Celia was trying to get rid of her and that she was trying to make her mother and older brother stop loving her. Then her thoughts started getting dark. She began thinking of ways to punish the girl, though this didn't go beyond bullying and cruelly teasing her, which often resulted in the poor girl crying. Aeros decided to keep Angela with him at all times in order to keep things from getting worse between the two girls. This worked to a marginal degree. Angela's behavior got better and she was less hostile towards Celia and was cordial, if not tolerant of the girl's presence, which caused the boy to eventually forget about the reason why he kept his sister at his side, but she was still jealous and resentful just under the surface. Though on the outside she is a cheery and outgoing young girl on the inside she is possessive, short tempered, and has an older brother complex that borders on being incestuous if not that, then very, very, very obsessive. And like Jin, a catalyst was needed for poor Angela to be sent over the edge. Receiving Nox Nyctores Murco Algesco: Yukianesa was the catalyst for Jin's descent. So seeing her mother offer Delma a chance to live with them was one of the two catalysts that will send Marie Angela Zoromaki spiraling into insanity. But this isn't really her fault. The darkness within Angela's heart was awakened when she felt that first pang of jealousy and had grown in strength since then by slowly eating away at her mind. It was slowed down when Aeros started keeping Angela in his company but it didn't stay dormant. Though in the next chapter Angela will have a sort of mother/daughter day with Samantha and get some much needed emotional healing, which in turn will weaken the darkness in her heart. But also in the coming chapters, an opportunity will present itself for the darkness to come and completely seduce Angela. Only it's up to her whether to accept it or not.

Titano Man XIII:*Whew* that was a long explanation. I hoped you enjoyed the first official chapter of Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts. The next chapter will be posted up soon.

Delma: Um, quick question T.M.?

Titano Man XIII: Yes?

Delma: Why didn't you explain about my home world?

Toph Bei Fong: And mines too?!

Titano Man XIII: Oh, that I can explain. You see the world of Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits and Arc the Lad in general as well as the world Avatar the Last Airbender does not exist in this story.

Delma and Toph: What?!

Titano Man XIII: Actually, it's not out of place for characters from different franchises to appear in Kingdom Hearts without the world they came from having to be in game or even existing in the same universe. Example: Final Fantasy and The World Ends with You. This is most usually seen with characters from Final Fantasy and the occasional Disney character. But unlike in canon Kingdom Hearts all of the mainstream (Numbered) Final Fantasy titles, with the exception of III, VI, and VIII, exist in this universe. The world of VII exists yes, but I will have to change a few things and events in order to make sure that the events of that world sill happens without interrupting the continuity of the Kingdom Hearts universe. So that means that Cloud, Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid will NOT appear on this world since they appeared on other worlds in the series. But the world of Dissidia Final Fantasy exists here as well (Though it will not appear physically in this story, it will be referenced upon here and there). And now that I'm done rambling, let's get back on topic. what this means for you dear Delma, is that both of you and the rest of the varying species of Deimos exist as natural inhabitants of Aeros', Ignis', and Celia's home world that had evolved alongside humans. in fact, several species of Deimos either live equally with humans or have their own civilizations where they trade with humans. And as for Toph, she is also a native to this world in this story. She just doesn't remember where she came from is all. Does that answer your question?

Delma and Toph:*Still shell shocked* Yeah... *Nods dumbly*

Titano Man XIII: Well, that should take care of things.

Ragna the Bloodedge: One quick question?

Titano Man XIII: *Sigh* At this rate I'll have to set up a Q&A. Okay what is it?

Ragna: *Gestures to Noel Vermillion, Tsubaki Yayoi, Makoto Nanaya, Bang Shishigami, Zack Fair, Ingus, Aria Benett, Sara Altney, and a Mysterious Original Character* When are the rest of us going to debut in this little story of yours?!

Titano Man XIII: The chapter after next.

Rachel Alucard: And when will _I_ grace the mindless masses with my presence?

Titano Man XIII: The chapter after that.

Everyone starts swarming Titano Man with questions about their roles in the story.

Titano Man XIII: Black Mage! A little help here!

Gilles the Black Mage: With pleasure... *Starts charging up energy*

Titano Man XIII: NO NOT THAT SPELL!

Gilles: HADOUKEN!

The spell hits and unleashes a blast that equals fifteen supernovas.

KluYa the Red Mage: *Sweat drop* I... think you overdid it my friend.

Baron the Warrior A.K.A. Fighter: Ooooh, shiny.

Baku the Thief: Great. Now how are we going to get paid?

Sarina the White Mage: You do know this is a non-profit fan fiction, right?

Baku: What?!

Gilles: You probably should have read the fine print.

Baku: *Pulls out contract* "This story is (not) profitable to the party known as Thief or any and all of his possible aliases, as well to the rest of the cast and crew participating in the production of this Fan Fiction." (The "not" was the size of a period.) *Sweat drop* damn.

Titano Man XIII: *Cough* See you guys next time. *Wheeze* somebody call an ambulance! *Collapses onto the ground.*

Celia Zoromaki and Kairi: See you next time!


	3. Chapter 2: Preparations

Titano Man XIII: Hello I'm back! three updates in a row! I better slow down a little.

Aeros Zoromaki: You did finish the entire Forests of Serenity arc before you uploaded the first chapter.

Titano Man XIII: Yes, I did. but it looks like I'll have to upload the rest if I want to get a lot more reviews.

Celia Zoromaki: But what if you upload the rest of the arcs and they still don't review?

Titano Man XIII: Then I'll just hold off on updating until I get an adequate amount of reviews.

Marie Angela Zoromaki: Are you sure that will work?

Titano Man XIII: Well it'll be their fault that they missed out on a great story.

Noel Vermillion: I sure hope people review this story. I don't want to be out of the job again.

Titano Man XIII: Have faith. But you heard her! If you don't review then poor Noel will be forced to live on the streets.

Noel: Please review! I don't want to live on the streets and beg for money!

Titano Man XIII: Now that we have taken care of that issue, Rachel. Do you mind giving the disclaimer?

Rachel Alucard: Very well. *ahem* Titano Man XIII does not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, Or any of the following anime and video games: Naruto, Bleach, Rosario + Vampire, Soul Eater, Avatar the Last Airbender, The Legend of Spyro/Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure, Sonic Colors, SoulCalibur V, Devil May Cry 1, 2, 3, or 4, Arc the lad: Twilight of the Spirits, Panzer Dragoon: Orta, and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as well as anything else he decides to put into this story. But all of the original characters in this story are his property and if you mindless peons wish to use them for any reason whatsoever, then you must ask for hi permission first like any good servant should.

Titano Man XIII: *Covers Rachel's mouth* isn't she adorable everyone? Now... ON WITH THE STORY!

* * *

**Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts**

**Chapter 2: Preparations**

"_We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls." _―Anaïs Nin,_ The Diary of Anaïs Nin, Vol.7: 1966-1974_

Ignis Bravehart: Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts. The story so far...

* * *

**Play theme Treasured Memories**

The boy opened his eyes, revealing them to have been a bright emerald-green, and saw the sun shining brightly through the branches. He sat up and looked around before lying back down with a yawn.

Just as the back of his head touched the ground a petite girl around the age of ten with hair that was a mix of blue and gray, along with large eyes that were like that of a Lapis Lazuli with little flecks of white to complete the appearance of looking into the endless night, came into view. She wore a simple knee-length baby blue dress and a pair of blue flats. She looked down at the boy with a small smile on her face.

"Whoa!" the boy exclaimed as he bolted upright.

The girl giggled at her friend's reaction.

"Very funny Celia." the redhead said as he stood on his knees.

(A burst of static interrupts the scene before it transitions to another one.)

"Say, Celia, what was your hometown like? You know, where you grew up." he asked as she continued to walk away only to stop a few feet away from him.

"I told you before, I don't remember." she said slightly annoyed that not just Ignis, but all of her friends would keep asking that question prompting her to keep giving the same answer.

(Another burst of static.)

"Hey!" said a young boy's voice from behind then. "Aren't you forgetting about me?" he asked as the two kids turned around.

They saw a boy around the age of ten with short spiked back dark brown hair and azure colored eyes. He wore a simple black tee-shirt, a pair of light gray jeans, black fingerless gloves, black shoes, and a large over-sized light gray long-sleeved hooded sweater that had belonged to his late father tied around his waist. And in the boy's arm was a log.

(More static.)

"Wow! It's finally finished! Our ticket to the outside world!" Ignis said as he put down several logs.

(Even more static.)

(The static was starting to run lightly in the background throughout each scene, causing them to blur slightly as the sound of the static created a faint droning buzz. The static only grew violent when the scene changed.)

Everyone now sat on the shore watching the sunset as the water lapped against the sand.

"So, Celia home is out there somewhere, right?" Ignis asked as he looked to Aeros.

"Could be." the brown haired boy answered as he sharpened a stick with a pocket knife. "We'll never really know by staying here." he said as watched the sun slowly set behind the mountains.

"But how far do you think the wagon could take us after we make it through the Orc's road?" Arc asked in slight worry. He didn't want to run out of supplies while they were out in the middle of nowhere.

"Who knows?" the boy dismissively. "If we have to, we'll think of something else." he said as he kept whittling at the piece of wood.

Toph blew some of her hair from her face. "So pretty boy, suppose you get to another world. What would you do there?" the blind girl asked as she laid back on the sand, resting her head on her hands.

"Hmm... Well, I haven't really thought about it." he said with a shrug as he pocketed the knife and threw the stick away. "It's just... I've always wondered why we're here in this valley surrounded by mountains. If there are any other worlds out there, beyond those mountains, why did _we_ end up on this one? And suppose there are other worlds... Then ours is just a little piece of something greater." he said as he put his hands behind his head and lay back on the shore as well. "So we could have just as easily ended up somewhere else, right?" he said as he closed his eyes.

"I don't know." Ignis said indifferently as he too lay back onto the shore and rested his head on his hands.

"Exactly." replied the leader of the group.

(Another burst of static.)

"Hey, Ignis." Aeros called out from behind his friend.

(Static spikes through the scene but it doesn't interrupt it.)

The redhead turned just in time to catch a small pink heart-shaped fruit.

"You wanted one didn't you?" the brown-haired boy said as he pointed at the piece of fruit.

"A Kokoro fruit?" the boy asked in confusion.

(Another spike of static.)

"Uh, yeah." Aeros said with a deadpanned look on his face. "Legend has it that if two people share one, then their destinies become intertwined." The boy said with a small smirk on his face as he walked past his friend with his eyes closed. "They'll remain a part of each other's lives no matter what." he said in amusement as if he found the superstition funny. "C'mon, I know you want to try it. You know who won't wait for you forever." he said as he wave goodbye without turning around.

(Another burst of static comes and the scene changes.)

"It's nice to see you this morn... What!" he said as he prepared many good zingers in his head only to stop when he saw that the throne was empty. "Okay. Where the fuggin hell is King Leon?! I came to give that pompous knight his well-deserved trolling and he isn't even here to get it." the enraged Black Mage ranted as he paced about. But before he could cause any property damage with his magic he noticed a Chocobo came out from behind the throne with a letter in its beak.

The Black Mage took the letter then proceeded to read it. He read it several more times just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. He blinked once, twice, three times.

Five seconds later Gilles the Black Mage was running down the halls in panic. "Fug! Fug! Fug! Fug! Fug!" he shouted as he ran like a bat outta hell.

(More static.)

"In a minute. Where are Baku and KluYa?" asked the master of Black Magic.

"Last I heard Baku had been chased about by the guards for robbing a bank. And that KluYa went to the market to buy some more strategy guides after his last collection was mysteriously incinerated." the warrior explained causing Gilles to snicker.

"Well it looks like we'll have to look for those idiots." said the cloaked schemer.

(Spike of static.)

"No need gentlemen for we are right here!" an intellectual male voice said directly behind Gilles.

"What the fug!" BM shouted in surprise and turned around to glare at his two old companions. "How long were you standing there?!" he said having half a mind to Fire 3 the red clad warrior and the glorified crook into nothing but ashes.

KluYa the Red Mage was a powerful warrior with long white hair and blue eyes. a jack-of-all-trades type character of sorts. He is most well-known for his long convoluted strategies, his obsession with EXP and status boosts, and his red feathered hat.

Baku the Thief was an attractive looking man with short spiky blond hair covered by a green bandana and brown eyes. He wore a green tunic over a red shirt, green pants, green wrist bands, and a pair of red boots. As the most cunning of the light warriors he can get out of almost any situation with nothing but his wits. The most dangerous weapon he has in his possession is not a dagger or a sword, but his silver tongue.

"Why the entire time my friend. I just boosted my stealth stat so that I could sneak Baku and I in here undetected." Red Mage said in a proud tone.

"Whatever, we've got a problem boys, and its top-secret. So don't tell anyone." Black Mage said in a quiet tone.

"Queen Sarah." said KluYa.

"Nope. Not even the queen!" said the dark mystic.

"White Mage." said Baron.

"NO, its top-secret!" the spell caster yelled in annoyance.

"Good afternoon ladies." Baron, Baku, and KluYa said at the same time.

Gilles became rigid and slowly turned around to behold the site of queen Sarah of Cornelia and one of the of the Light Warriors, Sarina the White Mage.

(Static spike.)

Sarina then cleared her throat in an expectant manner obviously wanting an explanation.

(Even more static.)

'_I can hard to think that we'll be leaving all of this behind._' Aeros thought as he stared at his sister. '_You know, if you and Toph hadn't mysteriously shown up here all of those years ago, then I probably wouldn't have even considered leaving. Well, I mean, why would I want to? This world is small, quiet, and peaceful. I could spend my entire life here and focus on making sure you live a happy life._' he thought with a serene smile. '_But then there would be whole new experiences that I would miss out on._' he thought as his smile disappeared. As he closed the door he vowed that he would do everything in his power to protect his little sister from anything that could hurt her. With determination set in his eyes he closed the door and moved on.

(The static flared again as the scene changed again. But this time it died away completely. The scene wasn't fuzzy or blurred slightly, and the faint buzzing had vanished.)

The Orc girl's body went completely rigid. She had never been hugged before. And she had no idea what this new feeling that was budding in her chest was. After a moment the young Orc tentatively returned the embrace causing Samantha to smile and tighten her hold on the girl.

"I promise Delma. So long as there is still breath in my lungs, I won't let anything harm you." Aeros' and Angela's mother said as she began to stroke the girl's head.

But unbeknownst to the two, they had been spied on by Angela. But tears of happiness from watching the touching moment and of possibly gaining a new sister did not fill her eyes, instead only anger, jealousy, and betrayal shined in them.

'_Great. Someone else is here to take away mama's attention!Why isn't that me in there? I should be getting hugged by_ my _mother! Not _her_!_' she thought as she gritted teeth in rage. She had come downstairs in hopes of confessing to her mother about the growing sense of loneliness and abandonment that she was beginning to feel and to repair the rift that was beginning to form between them, only to find her comforting that she-Orc instead of her! And as the feelings of jealousy, anger, and betrayal grow stronger, so too did her thoughts grow darker and more twisted. '_And pretty soon that hussy will start taking _my _Aeros' attention away from me, just like Celia_ always_ does._' she thought as her hands curled into fists. '_I can't wait to reach the outside world. Then I could ditch that brat out in the middle of nowhere and have both Aeros and mom all to myself again._' she thought as a slightly insane grin appeared on her face. '_But first... I have to get rid of that little bitch who thinks she can just waltz in here and do whatever she wants._' the girl thought darkly as she scurried back to her room, thoughts of how to get rid of Delma filling her mind. '_Just one more day Marie Angela._' she thought with a quiet giggle as she re-entered her bedroom.'_One more day and everything will be the way it should have been, the way it's_ supposed_ to be. Just me, mama, and big brother!_' she thought as she settled back into bed. '_Soon Celia... Soon you'll get what's coming to you. After all..._' Her manic grin becomes even more twisted and insane. "The door... is opening." she muttered gleefully before drifting off to sleep.

Outside, the moon hung ominously in the sky as it glowed a bloody red, signifying the dark times that were sure to come.

**End theme**

The scene then faded to black.

* * *

The next morning Ignis arrived in the clearing expecting everyone to be making the last preparations for the trip. But instead he finds everyone watching an argument between, surprisingly enough, Celia and Terra. Meanwhile Aeros was trying to play peacekeeper.

The redhead stared at the scene in confusion.

He walked over to Toph and she turned to him.

"Do you have any idea what's going on?" the boy asked as he continued to stare at the scene.

"Not a clue. I just got here myself." the blind Geomancer said with a nonchalant shrug.

"I'm telling you Celia, You can't have so many mushrooms in the wagon! There's barely any room for the rest of us!" Terra argued as she pointed at a large sack filled to the brim with edible mushrooms.

"I like mushrooms! So why can't I have a little extra for the trip?!" Celia shot back as she glared at her best friend.

"A little extra?! How in the world are you gonna eat all that?!" Terra asked in shock.

"Not all at once! Just something to nibble on while we're on the road." the bluenette said casually as she crossed her arms.

The mint haired girl simply gaped at her lifelong friend in bemusement.

"Hey Celia, Terra. Why don't we come up with a compromise?" Aeros asked softly as he stepped between the two.

"What sort of compromise?" Celia asked as she looked at her brother in curiosity.

"Terra will let you have an extra bag of mushrooms for you to snack on if you bring it all in a smaller bag." the brunette said slowly and calmly to keep his adopted sister from getting too worked up.

Aeros knew that his sister had a strong addiction to the edible fungus. Just as he and Angela had an addiction to meat-buns. So, to keep her from panicking or doing something drastic, he is trying to slowly talk her into bringing less along. Unfortunately it didn't work.

The bluenette gasped in indignation. "How can you even ask me that?" she asked with a horrified expression on her face. "It would be like denying water to a fish, or denying sunlight to a tree! Does my big brother want to put me through that kind of torture?!" she asked dramatically as she covered her eyes with her right wrist.

"Celia... Please don't overreact." the brunet said with a sigh. It was the same thing every time. He'd threaten to cut off her supply of mushrooms and she would either cry or do something worse.

"Fine! But if I have to go with fewer mushrooms than I'd like, then you would have to deal with having less of mom's meat buns too!" Celia threatened with conviction.

Aeros' eyes bugged out of his head and he grew several shades paler.

"N-n-n-now let's not do anything hasty here." the boy said fearfully as he tried to placate his sister's wrath.

"It's too late for that big brother." Celia said with a rather cute and mischievous pout. "You're just gonna have to live with it." she said with a victorious smirk. She knew Aeros could never deny her.

Aeros tried to argue with her. To maybe get her to change her mind. His mouth opened and closed several times but he ultimately found no way out. He sighed in resignation. "I agree to the terms of the compromise. Do the other two parties agree?" he said in a depressed tone.

"Yes I fully agree to the terms presented." Terra said in a business-like tone.

The bluenette couldn't help but giggle. "I too agree to these terms. It's a deal." She said as she and her best friend shook hands, thus sealing the deal.

Celia's smirk turned into a full-blown grin as she winked her left eye and flashed the victory sign with her right hand. The others swore they could hear a victory fanfare playing in the background.

Aeros then curled up into a ball at the base of a nearby tree to sulk.

"Well since big brother will be out of commission for a while, that means I'm in charge!" Celia said as she looked at the rest of the group who had watched the entire argument from a safe distance.

Luckily they were all used to seeing Aeros bend to the blue-gray haired girl's will and weren't too surprised by the outcome, though they did shoot their leader a few sympathetic looks.

After everyone left to gather some of the very last supplies Ignis walked up to Celia to see what his job was.

"The wagon's almost ready. All we have to do is fill it with food. Hey can you go see if Aeros is okay?" she asked as she looked at her brother a little ways away.

"Sure thing." Ignis said and made his way to his best friend who seemed to have recovered from his depression.

"Hey Ignis. Our wagon still needs a name. Let's see... How about Ragnarok? What would you call it?" asked the brunet.

"Me? Well... hmm... the Falcon!" the redhead said as he crossed his arms.

"Hey, how 'bout..." Aeros started only to have his sentence finished by Ignis.

"The usual." suggested the redhead.

"Let's do it!" Aeros said confidently.

"Are you two at it again?" Celia said as she ran up to the two. "Alright, I'll be the judge." she said as she stood in front of them. "The usual rules apply: Take any route you want... The first one to tag that tree and make it back wins." the bluenette explained to the duo.

"If I win, I'm captain! And if you win..." he trailed off wanting to hear what his best friend would suggest.

"You can't bring any ramen on the trip with you." he said causing a look of horror to come across Ignis' face. Aeros smirked, seeing his chance to get a little revenge on his sister also. "And I get to share a Kokoro fruit with Terra." he said causing a blush to came across his best friend's face and an indignant look to come across his face as well. Aeros knew that the redhead had strong feelings for both Celia and Terra. So, he would often take the chance to tease him about it when he wanted a bit of amusement.

"Huh?" Ignis said in indignation.

"Deal? The winner get's to share a Kokoro fruit with Terra." He said as he looked to his friend with a small smirk. He heard Celia give a shocked squawk at the terms and Aeros couldn't help but chuckle at his small revenge.

Celia, along with Terra, had very strong feelings for Ignis. So this was often a topic that led her and Terra into many arguments in the past,in the present, and no doubt in the future.

"What...? Wait a minute." Ignis said still indignant.

Celia snapped out of her shock. "Okay. On my count:" she said sounding very peppy. "3... 2... 1... Go!" she shouted as she threw her arm down and the two boys raced off.

* * *

It was a very close race. But when the finish line was in view, Aeros stumbled on an exposed root and Ignis was able to pull ahead and win the race.

"Alright! I won!" Ignis said as he pumped his fist into the air in victory. Oddly enough... there was a victory fanfare playing in the background.

"Okay, okay, the name of the wagon is the Falcon." the brunet said with a sigh.

"Hey, no hard feelings, right?" Ignis asked as he stuck out his hand.

Aeros had a small smile on his face. "Nah. And besides, I was joking about sharing a Kokoro fruit with Terra. You have to learn how to lighten up." he said as he scratched the back of his head.

"And the ramen too, right?" the redhead asked while laughing.

"Nope. I was completely series about that." Aeros said with a straight face.

Ignis grew pale. He was very glad that he won that race.

"Well I better go see what Celia wants me to look for this time." the redhead said quickly before running towards the bluenette, who had gone back to the wagon when the race ended.

"Today we collect provisions for our trip!" she said as she stared at her panting friend. "Let's see. Ignis, you're looking for... _Eggs_. _Mushrooms_. a lot of _apples_. Plenty of _Fish_. And fill this up with _Drinking Water_. But not from the lake!" she said as she gave Ignis a canteen. "Bring everything back here. If you need help just ask." she said with a cute smile as she clasped her hands together behind her back.

Ignis left in search of the everything they needed.

* * *

After a while and another few sparring matches with Luneth, Arc, and Refia, with one time fighting all three of them at once, he had gathered almost all the provisions needed. All he needed was one more mushroom.

He had searched everywhere for that last mushroom. But everywhere he looked came up empty. The only place he hadn't searched was the crystal cave that sat under the giant tree.

He reached the base of the tree and saw a small hole that led into the earth. '_It's been awhile since I've been down there_.' he thought before descending into the hole. He crawled through the hole until he reached a small cave filled with glowing blue crystals and many beautiful gemstones as well as many large roots that acted like support pillars. The walls of the cave had been covered by countless chalk drawings and in the very back of the cave was a wooden door with no handle or knob.

**Play theme Treasured Memories**

As Ignis walked through the small cave, memories of a much more simpler time came to the front of his mind.

* * *

**Flashback**

"Wow! This place is amazing!" a six-year-old Celia said as her lapis lazuli eyes widened in awe.

"This place belongs to me, Aeros, Angela, and Terra!" said a six-year-old Ignis.

"I'm only letting you in here 'cause I think you're special!" the boy said with a blush adorning his cheeks.

**End Flashback**

* * *

The boy sighed wondering if he would make any more memories like that in the future.

His eyes scanned the many drawings in the room until his bright emerald eyes landed on a mushroom that sat in front of a small drawing in the back next to the handle-less door. After grabbing the mushroom he sat in front of the drawing. It was a drawing of him, Celia and Terra. He remembered when the three of them sat down on this very spot and drew this picture. Noticing a small rock on the ground next to him, he picked it up and began doodling. He had his eyes closed as he was letting his heart guide his hand. What he had drawn was him giving Kokoro fruits to _both_ Celia _and _Terra. He was a little shocked by that and placed his hand over his heart as if asking it if this is what it truly wanted. But before he could find an answer, he felt a presence behind him.

**End Theme**

"W-who's there?" he asked as he got up and turned around.

He saw a man garbed in a dark cloak standing in the shadows.

"I've come to see the door to this world." replied the man.

"Huh?" Ignis asked in confusion.

"This world has been connected." said the cloaked person.

"W-what are you talking about?" the redhead asked in even greater confusion.

"Tied to the darkness..." the man continued as if he didn't hear Ignis.

**Play Theme Disquieting**

"Soon it will be completely eclipsed." finished the mysterious person.

"Well, whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this. Huh?" he said as he suddenly realized something. "W-where did you came from?" he asked the cloaked man.

"You do not yet know what lies beyond this door." the man said ignoring Ignis' question.

"So you're from another world!" Ignis said in realization.

"There is so very much to learn. You understand so little." said the man.

"Oh, yeah? Well, you'll see. I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there!" the boy said with conviction.

"A meaningless effort." the man said dismissively. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing." he said as if it was fact.

Ignis looked at the mysterious door next to him for a moment before looking back to where the man was, only to see the he was gone.

**End Theme**

'_He's gone!_' he thought in shock.

The redhead quickly left the cave after the that and ran all the way back to the wagon.

* * *

When Ignis got back he saw that Celia was fiddling with something in her hands.

"Hey Celia. What are you working on?" the redhead asked as he tried to see what the girl was doing.

"This?" she asked as she held up a small lapis lazuli crystal with some string tied around it. "I'm making a few necklaces out of some crystals that I found in the Crystal Cave." she said as she pulled out several others. Each necklace had a uniquely colored crystal that glowed in a beautiful way as they caught the sun's light tied to them. "In the old days, travelers always wore gemstones necklaces like these. They were supposed to make sure they had a safe voyage. So I made one for everyone." each gemstone had a color that matched a specific member of the party that was coming along. There was a purple amethyst for Luneth, a green emerald for Arc, a blue sapphire for Refia, a pale green jade for Toph, since it matched her eyes, a golden-amber topaz for Angela, since it matched her eyes as well, an azure crystal for Aeros, for his eyes, a pink diamond for Terra, a red crystal for Ignis, and of course a lapis lazuli gem for Celia.

Ignis tried to take the necklace that she made for him, but Celia put them all away. "Sorry but I'm gonna take them all to the jeweler later so he could turn them into real necklaces. So don't tell anyone until later. Got it?!" she asked to which the boy nodded in agreement. "Good." she said with a nod. "Did you get everything?" she asked to which the boy once again nodded and he gave her everything he was able to gather. "Thanks, Ignis! I found something today, too. Here, it's yours." she said as she gave the redhead a Hi-Potion. "Tired? Want to call it a day?" asked the bluenette.

"Yeah, let's go home." the boy replied while stretching.

"Okay, tomorrow's the big day. We should rest up!" Celia said in a peppy voice.

* * *

A little while later Ignis, Celia, and Terra were sitting on the lake shore watching the sunset. The had found the green haired girl sitting on the beach watching the sunset. The girl appeared to have been in deep thought about something as she was hugging her knees to her chest.

"Hey, Terra. What are you thinking about?" Ignis asked in curiosity.

"Huh? Oh, something my grandmother told me about earlier." the girl replied as she looked out to the water.

"What did she tell you?" Celia asked as she sat next to her best friend, Ignis sitting to Terra's other side.

."Well..." the girl trailed off as the memory of her meeting with her grandmother came to the front of her mind.

* * *

**Flashback**

Terra had just handed everything that she had been told to collect for the trip over to Celia and was making her way back home when she was approached by one of the preachers from the shrine.

"Good afternoon father." she said respectfully.

"Good afternoon lady Terra. I had been told to tell you that your grandmother wishes to speak to you." the man said with an equal amount of respect. After all, one shouldn't treat the High Priestess' granddaughter with any disrespect.

"She wants to speak to me? What for?" the girl asked in curiosity.

"She didn't say. All she said was that she wanted to speak with you." said the preacher.

"I shouldn't keep her waiting then. Thank you father." she said with a respectful bow.

"You're welcome lady Terra." the man said before taking his leave.

A little while later Terra arrived at the shrine.

**Play Theme Prelude from Final Fantasy VI**

"Good afternoon lady Terra." several clergymen and women said as she walked by.

The girl gave a friendly wave as she made her way to the back of the shrine. When she reached the back she stopped in front of two armored warriors who were standing guard at the door to the High Priestess' chambers.

"Greetings lady Branford." one of the guards said with a small bow. "The High Priestess is expecting you." the guard said as he opened the door.

Terra gave her thanks and entered the room. Inside of the room was a large satin curtain that pretty much cut the room in half. On the curtain was the silhouette of a woman.

"I'm here grandmother." Terra said as she sat on a mat in front of the curtain.

"Terra, darling. It's good to see you again. You hardly ever visit anymore." she said in a caring tone.

The green haired girl blushed and looked down in shame. "I'm sorry grandmother. It's just that I've been really busy lately with..." she trailed off, not sure how to explain her plans to leave with Aeros and the others so can go see the world.

"Building that wagon with your friends so that you can go see the world." the Grand Priestess said causing her granddaughter to gasp in shock.

"H-how did...?" the girl started only to get cut off.

"I know? I have my ways. You know you can't hide anything from me. In fact this little trip you were planning on taking was one of the reasons I summoned you here." the woman said in an amused tone.

Terra's blush grew darker as she looked down again in shame. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you." she said feeling very ashamed. "I was just afraid that you would forbid me from going if I told you." she said as she closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable scolding.

Terra heard some fabric shuffling before a pair of arms pulled her into a warm embrace. The girl opened her eyes to see that her grandmother didn't have a look of contempt or disappointment on her face, but a look of love and acceptance. Terra was relieved when she saw that she wouldn't be receiving any punishments.

The High Priestess was a fairly attractive woman who looked to be in her late thirties, even though she was well into her fifties. She had violet colored eyes and very long mint green hair done up into an elaborate style. Her hair had many ceremonial beads embroidered into it and a long thin braid that reached her waist; it too had many beads embroidered into it. She wore a simple yet elegant kimono with sleeves long enough to completely cover her hands, draped over the back of her head was a veil that was used to cover her face during special ceremonies, and draped around both of her arms and going behind her back was a simple white transparent shawl. Overall the woman had a striking and matronly appearance. And to complete the illusion of youth, she even sounded like a young woman. It also helped that the women in the Branford family age very gracefully.

"Terra dear, I'm not going to punish you or keep you from going on your journey." the woman said soothingly.

"You're not?" the girl asked hopefully.

"No, I'm not." she said with a smile as she shook her head. "The reason I wanted to speak with you, is to tell you that you have to be careful while you're out there." She said as she tightened her hold on her only grandchild. "And I have to tell you something the I wanted to tell you when you were older, but I have a feeling that now is the best time to tell you because it just might save your life out there." the woman said somberly as she released her granddaughter from their embrace, albeit reluctantly.

"What do you have to tell me?" Terra asked as her grandmother stood up and walked to a nearby table before sitting on one of the mats.

"Please, have a seat and I will tell you." the green haired woman said as she gestured to the mat across from her.

The girl sat down at the table and the woman produced teacups from her sleeve and proceeded to pour tea for the both of them.

"Thank you." the younger Branford as she accepted the cup.

The High Priestess stared at her granddaughter for what seemed like forever and the child began to get a little uncomfortable under the woman's gaze. "You look so much like your mother. It's difficult to believe that she's gone." the woman said wistfully as she took a sip of her tea.

"What was she like? I don't really remember anything about her." Terra said somberly as she looked at the cup in her hands.

The High Priestess smiled wistfully as the memories of her only child came to the front of her mind. "She was very much like you are now. She was sweet, kind, caring, and filled with love and compassion. She always went out of her way to help anyone in need. I was always very proud of her. From the moment she was born, to when she became a Summoner, to when she had you." she said as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Talking about her late daughter always got her emotional. "There's not one day that goes by that I'm not proud of all the things she had done for this town. You know... She was the reason this town was able to survive even though we don't have people travel through this region very often." the woman said with a chuckle before sighing wistfully. "When she died, I was afraid that no one would be able to take care of you. So I was very surprised when almost everyone in town offered to raise you as their own when she died, saying that it was the least they could do for their hero." she said with a smile.

"Wow. She sounds really amazing." Terra said in awe. She felt proud of having such an amazing mother, even though she couldn't remember her. A sudden question hit the young girl's head. "Um, grandma... I don't mean to be rude by asking but, how old were you when mama was born?" she asked a little shyly.

When Terra was only two years old her mother had died while defending the village from an army of bandits who were using the mountain pass to the north of the village to come and raid it. She had fought of the invasion completely by herself until backup had arrived. After repelling the army, a massive rock slide had come from the mountain they had fought on. She was able to save her comrades and herself from the falling boulders thanks to her summoning magicks, but the ledge on which she stood gave way and she fell to her death. The entire town mourned for the loss of their heroine and decided to honor her memory by helping Terra reach her full potential.

The woman couldn't help but giggle at how adorable her granddaughter was being. "Well, believe it or not, but I was only fifteen when I had your mother." the woman replied in amusement.

When the High Priestess was still considered a child herself a band of marauders and thieves came and ransacked the village. Many of the townspeople had been killed and many of the women were kidnapped, she included. For a two whole weeks the women were kept hostage. Many of them were raped continuously, including her. Help had soon arrived and slew the criminals, but the damage had been done. After finding out she was pregnant, she went into a deep, deep depression. But she soon found a reason for living after having a near death experience that was caused by a failed suicide attempt. And a few months later, she had Terra's mother, and began working at the shrine afterwards.

"That young?!" the girl asked in shock.

"Yes, though it didn't happen the way I wanted it to, I'm glad I was able to have her." she said with a sigh. "You know, your mother wouldn't shut up about you back when she was pregnant with you." the High Priestess said with a chuckle. "She loved very much... Just like I loved her." she said wistfully as she looked at her granddaughter.

"I'm glad I had a mother like her." Terra said with a serene smile on her face.

"Now, the reason I summoned you here." the elder Branford said causing the girl to blink in surprise.

She had completely forgotten about that.

The High Priestess set her, now empty, cup to the side. "This journey that you are about to take, I want you to go and expand your horizons. To see the world in a new light. And to grow stronger as a person." she said sagely as she took her granddaughter's, now empty, teacup and set it to the side. "But I feel that I must warn you. An ominous wind has blown in, and I fear that you will have to fight a great darkness before you are ready for it." she said completely serious.

Terra looked quite worried.

"But don't worry." the older woman said reassuringly. "I'm sure that you can handle it with your aptitude for magic." she said, getting the girl to calm down a little.

For as long as Terra could remember, magic had always come easily to her. Even when others struggled to master a spell, she would always get it on the first try.

"Do you think I can handle it?" asked the green haired girl.

"Of course I do! After all, you have your father's power." she said with a confident smile.

"My father?" Terra asked in astonishment

"Yes. What do you know of your father?" asked the High Priestess.

"Not much I'm afraid." the girl said with a sigh. "All I know is that he saved my mother's life once and that they were very much in love. People said that he just vanished shortly after my mother's death." she said feeling very sad that her father wasn't there for her.

"That much is true." the older woman said somberly. "But there is more to your father than what you already know." said the woman.

"Really? Can you tell me what you know of him?" Terra asked with equal parts hope and excitement.

The High Priestess sighed. "I was hoping to tell you when you were to better understand what I am about to tell you." she said in a tired voice. "You see Terra; you are a very special child. One that everyone loves and cherishes for more than one reason." she released a weary sigh that hinted at her true age. "Do you know the story of how the people of this town had been protected by great and powerful beings known as Espers, right?"she asked the child.

"Of course I do. Everyone in town does." Terra said, slightly confused by the question.

"Then you know that all of them eventually disappeared, right?" she asked her grandchild.

"Yes, I do." the girl said even more confused now. "Grandma... What exactly are you getting at?" she asked wanting to know the answer about why her grandmother was asking questions with obvious answers.

"Terra honey, you are no ordinary human being." the High Priestess said causing the girl's eyes to widen. "You are something much more amazing." she paused, causing a bit of tension to build. "You, my dear, are an Esperkin." she said with a small smile.

"An... Esperkin?" she asked with a mix of curiosity and awe.

"Yes. Esperkin are special beings born from the love between a human and an Esper. In other words, you are half Esper." explained the woman.

"I'm half Esper?" asked a thunderstruck Terra.

"Yes." replied the elder Branford.

"So this means that my father was" she was interrupted by her grandmother.

"An Esper? Yes." said the older green haired woman.

"I have the power of an Esper?" the girl asked still having trouble processing the information.

"Yes you do. But now, that power is dormant, and it will only awaken when you will need it the most." the woman explained patiently. She figured that her only grandchild would have trouble processing what she had just been told.

"Wow. You think you would know yourself." said a still shell-shocked Terra.

The High Priestess stood up and walked over to Terra's side of the table. "I know that it's a lot to take in so soon my dear. But you will come to understand soon." the woman said as she embraced the girl in a firm hug.

"Is there anything else you want to tell me?" the green haired girl asked softly.

"Just be careful out there, and good luck with that boy you like. And if he can't decide on who he wants as his girlfriend then maybe you and Celia can just share him with each other.

"G-grandma! H-how can you suggest such a thing?!" Terra asked in mortification as she had a blush on her face that could put a tomato to shame.

"What? It's perfectly legal, and I am more than willing to do it. And besides... You and Celia are like sisters, so it shouldn't be that hard for you to convince her to agree. And if your mother was here, she would be all for it since she would want to have lots and lots of grandchildren, like I wanted her to give me." the older woman said excitedly much to Terra's dismay. "And hey, if that boy manages to get any other girls to fall for him, and I know they will, then you could get them to join in too!" she gushed as she thought about how she was going to spoil all of her future great-grandchildren. "Anyways. Tell your friends I said hello. Oh, and don't forget that I'm throwing a small bon voyage party for you tonight. So make sure to come by later, since I have a few very special gifts to give you." she said as she gave the girl one last squeeze before releasing her and helping her up.

"Alright. See you later grandma." she said meekly as a blush still adorned her cheeks, not really wanting to look the woman in the eyes.

The twelve-year-old then proceeded to leave the room as quickly as she could to save herself from further embarrassment.

"Goodbye Terra!" the High Priestess called out after the girl. The smile she had on her face soon became a somber one. "Goodbye. And may the Great Will protect you on your journey." she muttered to herself as she closed the door.

**End Theme**

**End Flashback**

* * *

"And that's what happened." Terra finished, though she omitted the part where her grandmother suggested that she and Celia would form a harem. Thinking about it still made her blush.

"So, you're an Esper... kid?" Ignis asked in confusion.

"It's Esperkin Ignis." deadpanned Celia.

"So... What do you guys think?" the green haired girl asked, hoping that they would still be her friends.

"I think you just became way cooler in my book, Terra!" Ignis said with a bright grin, causing said girl to blush.

"You're our friend Terra, I doesn't matter to us what you are to us. All that matters is what you mean to us. And you mean more to me than mushrooms do." the bluenette said with a smile.

**Play Kairi's Theme I**

Terra gaped at her best friend in shock. She knew how much Celia loved mushrooms, and to hear that she was the most precious thing in Celia's life was almost too much for her to take.

"Yeah! Terra, you mean way more to me than all the pizza, ramen, and hamburgers in the world!" the redhead said with conviction. And considering that those were his three most favorite dishes in the world was saying something.

That did it for the newly discovered Esperkin. Tears of joy laced her eyes as she pulled her two friends into a bone crushing group hug. "Waaah! You guys are the best! You two mean more to me than all the Moogle dolls in the world! I don't deserve to have such great friends as you two!" she cried as her friends returned the hug.

After Terra had calmed down the three children sat on the beach and watched the sunset in a content silence. That was until a sudden question popped into Terra's head.

"Hey Celia, I didn't see Angela at the wagon today. Do you know where she is?" the green haired girl asked in curiosity.

"Oh, this morning mama said that she was going to have a mother/daughter day with Angela today." Celia said as she watched the waves lap against the shore.

"Oh, okay." the green haired girl said indifferently.

A few moments of silence passed before Celia spoke up.

"You know, Aeros and Angela have changed." she said as she stared out at the water.

"What do you mean?" Ignis asked in confusion.

"Well..." the bluenette said trailing off.

"You okay?" the redhead asked in concern.

"Ignis, Terra, let's take the wagon and go! Just the three of us!" the girl said excitedly, shocking her two friends.

"Huh?" was Ignis' intelligent response.

"What?" replied Terra.

Celia giggled in amusement. "Just kidding." she said as she continued to giggle melodically.

"What's gotten into you?" asked Ignis. "You're the one that's changed, Celia." he said as he too began to laugh a little.

"Maybe..." the bluenette said trailing off.

Another moment of silence passed before Celia spoke up again.

"You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready." she said with conviction. "No matter where I go or what I see, I know that I can always came back here." she said with the utmost sincerity. "Right?" she asked as she looked to her two closest and dearest friends.

"Yeah, of course!" Ignis said in a supportive tone.

"That's good." the girl said with gratefulness in her voice. "Ignis, Terra, don't ever change." she asked with a bit of pleading in her tone.

"Huh?" Ignis asked in confusion as the bluenette stood up.

"What do you mean?" asked Terra.

"I just can't wait. Once we set off, it'll be great." she said with wonder as she clasped her hands behind her back.

The scene faded to black as the sun finally disappeared from the sky.

**End Theme**

* * *

**Play theme It Started With a Letter**

The scene faded back to show the king of Cornelia's personal library. we have an above view shot of the letter that King Leo of Cornelia had left for his fellow Light Warriors. It read...

_Gilles the Black Mage, Baron the Warrior, Baku the Thief, KluYa the Red Mage, and Sarina the White Mage, My fellow Warriors of Light,_

_I am sorry for leaving without saying goodbye, but there is great trouble brewing in the winds._

_I am not sure why, but the stars have disappeared from the sky, one by one. And that means that disaster cannot be far behind. I hate to leave you all but I have to investigate this strange phenomenon._

_Recently I have had dreams, dreams where a great darkness will come and devour the light. And so, I have contacted several old acquaintances of mine from several worlds I had visited years ago. Very soon they will send allies that will aid my fellow Light Warriors on the quest that I will send them on._

_The crystals came to me recently in a dream and told me that three heroes will arrive with "keys"- the keys to our survival. So I need all of you and your new allies to find them and to stick with them. Got it?_

_We need those keys or else all is lost! So I want you to go to the world of Gaia, to the town of Kalm and find Rachel Alucard and Kokonoe. They will point you in the right direction._

_P.S._

_Would you apologize to Sarah for me? _

_Thank You._

_Sincerely,_

_Leonardo, The Warrior of Light and king of Cornelia._

Over in the corner of the throne room Sarah's pet Chocobo, Biko, was sleeping peacefully completely oblivious to the serious situation going on around it.

"Oh, dear! What could this mean?" Sarina, the White Mage and one of the Warriors of Light, said in concern.

"It means we will just have to trust the king." Sarah, the queen of Cornelia said having the utmost faith in her husband.

"Gosh, I sure hope he's alright?" Baron, the Warrior, sometimes called Fighter, said with concern.

"Your Highness." KluYa, the Red Mage, said catching the woman's attention. "Do not worry. We will find our lost leader and these "keys" of which he spoke." the red clad warrior said reassuringly.

"Thank you, both of you." the queen said gratefully.

"Sarina, can you take care of the..." Gilles, the Black Mage, asked his girlfriend (In his mind) only to be interrupted by her.

"Of course." the White Mage said knowing what her fellow Light Warrior was talking about. "You be careful, now, all three of you." she said with a motherly smile.

"Oh, and to chronicle your travels, he will go with you." the queen said as she gestured to the nearby desk.

**End Theme**

Gilles, Baku, and KluYa looked at the desk in confusion when they saw that no one was there.

"Over here, Kupo!" a small Moogle said as it flew up from behind the desk and stood on top of it. "Mog is the name. Mog the Moogle, at your service." the Moogle said formerly as he gave a bow.

"We hope for your safe return. Please help our king." the queen asked pleadingly.

Gilles, Baku, and KluYa saluted, determination shining in their eyes.

'_A new chance to troll and Hadouken people and have absolute immunity? Sign me up!_' the Black Mage thought excitedly.

'_A new adventure with loads of enemies and sub-quests that will give lots and lots of EXP? Sign me up!_' the Red Mage thought excitedly.

'_Many new worlds with countless riches, women, and treasure? Sign me up!_' Baku, the Thief, thought excitedly.

The two Light Warriors looked at the queen and their fellow Light Warrior until their eyes landed on Baron, who was standing next to the two women with a salute of good luck to his three comrades.

"You're coming, too!" the two mages and thief shouted as they pulled the red armored warrior out of the room with them.

* * *

**Play Final Fantasy I Main Theme**

A little later the four Light Warriors, plus Mog, were walking down the main hallway of castle Cornelia on their way to the secret hangar that held the ship that would take them to another world.

"Gosh, Mog, your world disappeared, too?" Baron asked as he walked down the hall along with his fellow Light Warriors.

"It was terrible, Kupo. We were all scattered. And as far as I can see, I'm the only one who made it to this castle, Kupo." Mog said sadly as he flitted through the air over Baron's shoulder.

"Baron?" the Red Mage KluYa asked suddenly.

"Oh, right..." the warrior said in realization. "I gotcha. While we're on other worlds, we can't let on about where we're from. We have to protect the world border." he stated with a nod.

"That would be "order" my dimwitted companion." corrected KluYa.

"Right. World order." reiterated the warrior.

The Black Mage, Gilles, froze in shock from his fellow Light Warrior's surprisingly intelligent response.

"Fighter..." the mage murmured in awe. "That was the most intelligent response that you had ever given. If I wasn't an evil little bastard then I would've given you a treat." he said with a shrug.

"Ooh! Is my treat a sword? I like swords!" was the redhead's dimwitted reply.

"And back to the norm." the Black Mage said with a sigh as they left the castle.

As the group walked through town they had been stopped by a small group of mysterious people.

"Excuse me, but..." called out a female voice. "Are you guys the light Warriors?" she asked making the heroes (Titano Man XIII: More or less.) turn to look at her.

They saw a petite young Elvaan woman with dark skin and lavender hair that falls to the small of her back, with two bangs that frame her face, pointed ears, and blue eyes. She wore a cropped short-sleeved black jacket that was held closed by a red ribbon and a blue brooch over a long, high-collared black and white top with criss-crossing up the sides and long, frilly violet sleeves. Patterned black shorts stop just above her knees, and she had brown heeled boots that fold over the top. Small gold designs pattern her clothing, from the trimmings of her jacket and the sleeves of her top, to the gold adorning the small black hat that sat atop her head. This was Prishe. A confident, foul mouthed, no-nonsense, and tomboyish Elvaan woman who specializes in white magic and hand to hand combat.

Along with the Elvaan woman was another woman with dark green hair and blue eyes. She wore a green outfit with knee-high golden heeled boots and draperies adorned with stars. This was Rydia. A powerful summoner. (Titano Man XIII: Sorry for the lack of description. The wiki was very dis-ambiguous with her attire.)

And the last person was a man with long black hair and green eyes. He wore a medium-length blue jacket with white studs and grooves, a white undershirt, brown pants, black boots, and dog tags. This was Laguna Loire. An ex-military infantryman turned reporter. He is cheerful, generous, kindhearted, and though he hates fighting, is a powerful warrior, though he has a lousy sense of direction.

"And who would want to know?" Baku asked suspiciously.

"Heh, well you can say that we're the back up." the ex-infantryman said sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head.

"You're the people our king had sent for?" KluYa asked in mild confusion.

"Yep! Me and Leo go way back." Prishe said loudly with a grin as she gestured to herself with her right thumb.

"He helped me get out of a bind a few years back, and I figured that this was a good way to repay him." said Laguna.

"My friend couldn't come to aid you so I had been sent in his stead." explained Rydia.

"Well, if you people are the one that our king had summoned then you will be of great service to us during our quest." the Red Mage said with a formal bow. "By the way, what are your names?" he asked the trio.

"The name's Prishe." the tanned Elvaan said with a grin.

"My name is Rydia." the green haired summoner said with a formal bow.

"I'm Laguna." the ex-soldier said casually.

"Nice to meet you. I am the genius Red Mage KluYa! And these are my fellow Light Warriors... Baku, the Thief..." the man said and then gestured to said thief. "Gilles, the Black Mage..." he said as he gestured to said Black Mage. "And Baron, the Warrior." he said as he gestured to the final member of their party.

"Great, now that we're all friends, can we get moving? I want to get there before I die of old age." Gilles said cynically as he began to walk off.

"Gee, who shoved a stick up his ass?" Prishe asked rather rudely.

"Oh, don't worry about BM. He's always grumpy when he wants pie, or to stab something, or when he wants to do something villainous." Baron said as he followed after his companion.

"Yes, forward! To new adventures and the boatload of experience points that comes with it!" the white haired Red Mage said as he walked off.

"Untold riches and beautiful women. I can't wait." Baku said before he strode off as well.

Laguna, Rydia, and Prishe stared at the odd group that they had to work with as they walked off.

"These are the Light Warriors?" Prishe asked wondering why her old friend would work with such an odd bunch.

"I'm sure they're very powerful warriors." the Summoner said reassuringly.

"Yeah, well I hope so, 'cause we'll be the ones that will have to do all the work if they aren't." the Elvaan woman said as the trio followed after the supposed Warriors of Light.

**End Theme**

* * *

A little while later the party reached the secret hangar and saw a giant, futuristic looking, red spaceship docked within it.

Baku couldn't help but give out an impressed whistle.

"Like it?" Laguna asked knowing the answer. "It's called the Ragnarok, the fastest ship in all of Radiant Garden." he said with a bit of pride in his voice.

"Oh, I like it." the thief said with a smirk.

"Careful Laguna, he might try to steal it from you." Prishe whispered confidentially into the man's ear as she glared suspiciously at Baku, who was drooling at the site of the amazing flying machine before him.

Gilles then walked up to the intercom to alert the launch crew of their arrival.

"Hello up there? Black Mage to launch crew!" he shouted over the intercom. "Anytime you're ready." he said making the crew members scurry about to make preparations for launch.

One of the members pulled back a lever and the entire hangar came to life.

The launch crew watched as many giant robotic hands picked up each member of the party and places them within the massive spaceship. And just as the last member of the party had been placed within the craft, Biko, the queen's pet Chocobo, jumped aboard just as the ship's gangplank receded into it.

Warning sirens flared as the hangar doors opened up.

Queen Sarah and Sarina the White Mage made it just in time to see the ship take off.

Sarina looked at the ships cockpit and saw Gilles the Black Mage give her a wink and a thumbs up. The brunette felt a light blush dust her cheeks. She was honestly going to miss them.

* * *

**Play Theme Prologue from Final Fantasy IV**

The Ragnarok's engines roared to life.

"Blast off!" Prishe said excitedly as she pointed straight ahead.

"You got it!" Laguna said in an equal amount of excitement as he hit the ship's accelerator.

The Ragnarok blasted through the tunnel in record speed and blasted off into the heavens.

To new worlds and a new adventure!

_**The Warriors of Light and their new allies set out on their quest to find the "keys" and their owners and to find their wayward king.**_

_**With optimism and hope they set off to the world of Gaia to find Rachel Alucard and Kokonoe and begin their greatest adventure yet.**_

_**But a great darkness will soon came to test their medal.**_

_**Will they sink into the darkness?**_

_**Or will they overcome it and become the heroes they were always destined to become?**_

_**Only time will tell. **_

**Chapter 3 End**

* * *

**Play Theme Historia Crux**

**Author's Notes**

Titano Man XIII: Well I think this chapter turned out pretty nicely if I do say so myself.

Gilles the Black Mage: I have one question. Why are there two Warriors in this story? Wouldn't it make much more sense if there was a Monk instead?

Titano Man XIII: I had thought about putting Monk in but it wouldn't feel right for me if I had seven Light Warriors instead of six. Also the second Warrior in the group Is the Warrior of Light from Dissidia Final Fantasy, and as such was the de facto leader of the Light Warriors.

Baku the Thief: So he's from the fighting game while the rest of us Light Warriors are from 8 bit Theater Chaos.

Titano Man XIII: Yes but I made you look like one of your more recent game sprites and made you a bit of a ladies man. You don't mind, do you?

Baku: *surrounded by enormous piles of gold and very sexy women with large breasts and dressed barely there bikinis* Nope! I don't mind it one bit.

Prishe: Great, you've created a pimp.

Titano Man XIII: Sorry. Anyways I've thinking about running a poll. Should Ignis have a harem? Yes? or No? If yes then these are just a few of the girls that would be in it.

Celia Zoromaki.

Terra Branford.

Titano Man XIII: Celia and Terra are already locked in so there's no changing that. The next few girls are up to you to see whether they're in or not.

Celes Chère: (She's the same age as Ignis and Terra in this story.) Becomes friends with Terra and spends much time with Ignis.

Fῡ: (Naruto) (same age as Ignis) Attends the Chunin exams and was saved by Ignis from a terrible fate and eventually learns to trust him.

Lilia (Arc the Lad: Twilight of the Spirits.) (Two years older than Ignis) Becomes smitten with him upon first meeting him.

Natsu (SoulCalibur V) (two years older than Ignis) Grows curious about Ignis after he saved Leixia's life. Also thinks he looks hot.

Yan Leixia (SoulCalibur V) (same age as Ignis) Had her life had been saved by Ignis.

Bullet (BlazBlue: ChronoPhantasma) (three years older than Ignis in this story.) See's Ignis as a powerful warrior and would often challenge him to fights.

Alice (Disney's Alice in Wonderland) (Why not add a little Disney to keep the Kingdom Hearts feel) (a year younger than Ignis) Finds Ignis' personality and outlook on life charming.

Toph Bei Fong: (Why not?) (Two years older than Ignis.) Grows interested after Ignis saves her life and soon starts spending more time with him.

Kurumu Kurono: (Rosario + Vampire) (Same age as Ignis) Gains an interest in Ignis after Tsukune and Moka be come a couple.

Titano Man XIII: Those are the girls. Now before you say anything, there will be a three-year time skip in this story. Other than Celia, Terra, Celes, Lilia, Bullet, and Toph, all of the other girls will meet Ignis after the skip, when he's fifteen. They will all fall in love with him for different reasons, like he's a powerful warrior, or he has an amazing personality, or his heart is full of light, or he accepts me for who I am, instead of what people think I am! Things like that. If you have suggestions for any other girls you want to see, then send me their names, ages, reasons for falling in love with the hero, the situations in which would make them fall in love with him, and from which anime/video game/cartoon they're from. But remember the age gap can't be too big, two-three years younger/older max! They have to be human or , in the case of Kurumu, human-like creatures! And the limit is no more than ten-thirteen girls!

Ignis Braveheart(pre-time skip): I'm gonna get all of those girls?!

Titano Man XIII: Most likely.

Post Timeskip Celes Chère: We didn't agree to this!

Other girls in the harem (post timeskip): Yeah!

Titano Man XIII: Uh oh. Fortunately I had a contingency plan for this. *Opens a dimensional tear and pulls out a shirtless fifteen year old Ignis and throws him to the girls* Have fun!

Natsu: Hey, he's kinda hot.

Bullet: Back off I saw him first!

Terra: No way! He's mine!

*All of the girls then begin to fight over the older Ignis, with him caught in the middle*

Older Ignis: Help me!

Younger Ignis: *Shivers in fear*

Titano Man XIII: Love to, but no! Well, while the women have their way with our red-headed hero, please feel free to leave your reviews and suggestions for me please. I will accept constructive criticism and flames shall be used for heating my home during the winter. Oh! And to those who wanted to see Angela get some emotional healing. Sorry, but I couldn't put it in. By the time I finished the chapter, I had realized that I had forgotten that scene! So if you still want to see what happened then I might post it as a separate one-shot or put it in as a flash back later in the story. So with that I bid you all adieu.

Marie Angela Zoromaki: Goodbye and see you next time!


	4. Chapter 3: Encroaching Darkness

Titano Man XIII: Hello again lost lambs. I am back to bring to you the last chapter of the Forests of Serenity Arc! I had just read the only other fic on this category and I am pumped up!

V-13/Nu-13: So, like, does that mean that we'll all, like, appear after this?

Titano Man XIII: Yes. But you'll have to wait for a little while before I can get to introduce the rest of you.

Hazama: Well you better hurry up buddy. I possibly can't keep my adoring public waiting for too long.

Titano Man XIII: Don't worry Hazama. You'll get your screen time soon enough.

Hazama: Oh, I just can't wait to start trolling everyone! I wonder if I should set up my troll booth somewhere just to make some quick cash?

Ragna walks in with a can of soda. He takes one look at Hazama and immediately does a spit take.

Ragna: Terumi?! What the hell are _you_ doing here?!

Hazama:Well if it isn't my old friend Rags! How're the wife and kids? Oh, wait! You don't have any! You were always too busy thinking about revenge to think about settling down.

Ragna: *draws his sword* I'll worry about that after I kill you.

Hazama: You're always so quick to jump to violence. Noel was _SO_ much more accommodating than you.

Ragna: Noel? What the hell did you do to her you sick bastard.

Hazama: Ah, don't get your panties all in a twist. She's fine... mostly.  
Hey, did you know that your girlfriend has a very low pain threshold?

Ragna: WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?!

Hazama: *Wistfully* The way she screamed as my knives slice through her soft and delicate skin was so... pleasurable. *Shivers in pleasure* That girl certainly has a set of pipes on her that for sure. *Smiles sadistically*

Ragna: THAT'S IT! I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE A MAJOR VILLAIN IN THIS STORY! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU ONCE AND FOR ALL YOU (BEEP)ING BASTARD!

Hazama: HEHEHE Well bring it on my old chum! I could use a good warm up!

Titano Man XIII: Guys please not in here! At least wait until this chapter is over until you kill each other!

Sora: This looks really bad!

Kairi: * Hides behind Sora* That guy is really scary!

Titano Man XIII: Just be glad that he's not after you and the other princess' right now! *Sees fight starting* Oh, shit! Quick someone say the disclaimer!

Hazama: Oh, mind if I say it?

Titano Man XIII: No, not at all!

Hazama: Alright then. *Ahem* *In a mocking announcer's voice* Titano Man XIII does not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, *Kicks Ragna in the face* Or any of the following anime, shows and/or games: Naruto, Bleach, Rosario + Vampire, Soul Eater, Avatar the Last Airbender, 8 Bit Theater Chaos, The Legend of Spyro/Skylanders: Spyro's adventure, Sonic Colors, SoulCalibur V, Devil May Cry 1, 2, 3, or 4, Arc the lad: Twilight of the Spirits, Panzer Dragoon: Orta, and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as well as anything else he decides to put into this story, since they all belong to their respective owners and not him. But all the original characters in this story are his property. *Gets knocked through a wall by Ragna.*

Titano Man XIII: QUICK! START THE CHAPTER ALREADY! I'm just thankful that Kokonoe isn't here too.

Kokonoe: Terumi! Where is that bastard! I know he's here!

Titano Man XIII: Just my luck.

* * *

Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts

Chapter 3: Encroaching Darkness

"_Darkness approaches from outside. I feel no light within me strong enough to resist it._"- Christopher Pike, _The Last Vampire_.

* * *

Aeros Zoromaki: Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts. The story so far...

**Play Theme Treasured Memories**

(The scene fades in through the static.)

The boy opened his eyes, revealing them to be a bright emerald green, and saw the sun shining brightly through the branches. He sat up and looked around before lying back down with a yawn.

Just as the back of his head touched the ground a petite young girl around the age of ten with hair that was a mix of blue and gray, along with large eyes that were like that of a Lapis Lazuli with little flecks of white to complete the illusion of looking into the endless night, came into view. She wore a simple knee-length baby blue dress and a pair of blue flats. She looked down at the boy with a small smile on her face.

"Whoa!" the boy exclaimed as he bolted upright.

The girl giggled at her friend's reaction.

"Very funny Celia." the redhead said as he got onto his knees.

(Static)

"It's nice to see you this morn- What!" he said as he prepared several zingers in his head only to stop when he saw that the throne was empty. "Okay. Where the fuggin hell is King Leon?! I came to give that pompous knight his well-deserved trolling and he isn't even here to get it." the enraged Black Mage ranted as he paced about. But before he could cause any property damage with his magic he noticed a Chocobo came out from behind the throne with a letter in its beak.

The Black Mage took the letter then proceeded to read it. He read it several more times just to make sure his eyes weren't playing tricks on him. He blinked once, twice, three times.

Five seconds later Gilles the Black Mage was running down the halls in panic. "Fug! Fug! Fug! Fug! Fug!" he shouted as he ran like a bat outta hell.

(Static)

'_It's hard to believe that we'll be leaving all of this behind._' Aeros thought as he stared at his sister. '_You know, if you and Toph hadn't mysteriously shown up here all of those years ago, then I probably wouldn't have even considered leaving. Well, I mean, why would I want to? This world is small, quiet, and peaceful. I could spend my entire life here and focus on making sure you live a happy life._' he thought with a serene smile. '_But then there would be whole new experiences that I would miss out on._' he thought as his smile disappeared. As he closed the door he made a silent vow that he would do everything in his power to protect his little sister from anything that could hurt her. With determination set in his eyes he closed the door and moved on.

(Static)

"If I win, I'm captain! And if you win..." he trailed off wanting to hear what his best friend would suggest.

"You can't bring any ramen on the trip with you." he said causing a look of horror to come across Ignis' face. Aeros smirked, seeing his chance to get a little revenge on his sister also. "And I get to share a Kokoro fruit with Terra." he said causing a blush to came across his best friend's. Aeros knew that the redhead had strong feelings for both Celia and Terra. So, he would often take the chance to tease him about it whenever he wanted some amusement.

"Huh?" Ignis said in indignation.

"Deal? The winner gets to share a Kokoro fruit with Terra." He said as he looked to his friend with a small smirk. He heard Celia give a shocked squawk at the terms and Aeros couldn't help but chuckle at his small revenge.

(Static)

His eyes scanned the many drawings in the room until his bright emerald eyes landed on a mushroom that sat in front of a small drawing in the back next to the handle-less door. After grabbing the mushroom he sat in front of the drawing. It was a drawing of him, Celia and Terra. He remembered when the three of them sat down on this very spot and drew this picture. Noticing a small rock on the ground next to him, he picked it up and began doodling. He had his eyes closed as he was letting his heart guide his hand. What he had drawn was him giving kokoro fruits to _both_ Celia _and _Terra. He was a little shocked by that and place his hand over his heart as if asking it if this is what it truly wanted. But before he could find an answer, he felt a presence behind him.

"W-who's there?" he asked as he got up and turned around.

He saw a man garbed in a dark cloak standing in the shadows.

(Spike of Static)

"I've come to see the door to this world." replied the man.

"Huh?" Ignis asked in confusion.

"This world has been connected." said the cloaked individual.

"W-what are you talking about?" the redhead asked in even greater confusion.

"Tied to the darkness..." the man continued as if he didn't hear Ignis. "Soon to be completely eclipsed." finished the mysterious individual.

"Well, whoever you are, stop freaking me out like this. Huh?" he said as he suddenly realized something. "W-where did you came from?" he asked the cloaked man.

"You do not yet know what lies beyond this door." the man said ignoring Ignis' question.

"So you're from another world!" Ignis said in realization.

"There is so very much to learn. You understand so little." said the man.

"Oh, yeah? Well, you'll see. I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there!" the boy said with conviction.

"A meaningless effort." the man said dismissively. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing." he said as if it was fact.

Ignis looked at the mysterious door next to him for a moment before looking back to where the man was, only to see the he was gone.

(Static)

"This?" she asked as she held up a small lapis lazuli crystal with some string tied around it. "I'm making a few necklaces out of some crystals that I found in our Secret Place." she said as she pulled out several others. Each necklace had a different colored crystal that glowed in a beautiful way as they caught the sun's light tied to them. "In the old days, travelers always wore gemstones necklaces like these. They were supposed to ensure a safe voyage. So I made one for everyone." each gemstone had a color that matched a specific member of the party that was coming along. There was a purple one for Luneth, a green one for Arc, a blue one for Refia, a pale green one for Toph, since it matched her eyes, a golden-amber one for Angela, an azure crystal for Aeros, a pink one for Terra, a red one for Ignis, and of course a lapis lazuli one for Celia.

(Static)

The High Priestess sighed. "I was hoping to tell you when you were to better understand what I am about to tell you." she said in a tired voice. "You see Terra; you are a very special child. One that everyone loves and cherishes for more than one reason." she released a weary sigh that hinted at her true age. "Do you know the story of how the people of this town were protected by great and powerful beings known as Espers, right?" she asked the child.

"Of course I do. Everyone in town does." Terra said, slightly confused by the question.

"Then you know that all of them eventually disappeared, right?" she asked her grandchild.

"Yes, I do." the girl said even more confused now. "Grandma... What exactly are you getting at?" she asked wanting to know the answer as to why her grandmother was asking questions with obvious answers.

"Terra honey, you are no ordinary human being." the High Priestess said causing the girl's eyes to widen. "You are something much more amazing." she paused, causing a little bit of tension to build. "You, my dear, are an Esperkin." she said with a small smile.

(Spike of static)

"An... Esperkin?" she asked with a mix of curiosity and awe.

"Yes. Esperkins are special beings born from the love between a human and an Esper. In other words, you are half Esper." explained the woman.

(Static)

"You know, Aeros and Angela have changed." she said as she stared out at the water.

"What do you mean?" Ignis asked in confusion.

"Well..." the bluenette said trailing off.

"You okay?" the redhead asked in concern.

"Ignis, Terra, let's take the wagon and go- just the three of us!" the girl said excitedly, shocking her two friends.

"Huh?" was Ignis' intelligent response.

"What?" Terra replied in shock.

Celia giggled in amusement. "Just kidding." she said as she continued to giggle melodically.

"What's gotten into you?" asked Ignis. "You're the one that's changed, Celia." he said as he too began to laugh a little.

"Maybe..." the bluenette said trailing off.

Another moment of silence passed before Celia spoke up again.

"You know, I was a little afraid at first, but now I'm ready." she said with conviction. "No matter where I go or what I see, I know that I can always came back here." she said with the utmost sincerity. "Right?" she asked as she looked to her two closest and dearest friends.

"Yeah, of course!" Ignis said supportively.

"That's good." the girl said with gratefulness in her voice. "Ignis, Terra, don't ever change." she asked with a bit of pleading in her tone.

"Huh?" Ignis asked in confusion as the bluenette stood up.

"What do you mean?" asked Terra.

"I just can't wait. Once we set off, it'll be great." she said with wonder as she clasped her hands behind her back.

(The scene then faded into static before fading to black.)

* * *

The scene faded back in to show Aeros, Angela, Ignis, Celia, Terra, Luneth, Arc, Refia, Toph, Delma, Darc, Kharg, Paulette, and Lilia were in Aeros' living room resting after an exciting and relatively exhausting day.

It turned out that the sending off party that the High Priestess was throwing for Terra was actually a festival in the girl's honor.

Everyone had gone and had a lot of fun. Even Delma admitted as much. There was even a tournament for the kids. In the final match Aeros and Ignis fought each other. It was a close match, but in the end Aeros was the one to come out the victor.

Ignis now lay on the floor, staring at the ceiling in thought as he twirled the Gemstone necklace that Celia made for him with his fingers. He remembered when the bluenette gave him and the rest of their friends the necklaces she had made for them earlier that day. She had the jeweler put them on silver chains with their names carved on each of them. She had said that these gemstones were a symbol of their connection and the friendship they all share. He remembered the look on Angela's face when Celia personally gave her, her necklace. Ignis didn't remember seeing the girl looked so happy before. Thinking about Celia and the kindness she had always gave him a warm feeling in his chest.

'_I just can't wait. Once we set off, it'll be great._' Celia's voice said, echoing through his head.

'_The outside world... I wonder what it'll be like?_' he thought before drifting off to sleep.

Sometime later the redhead was roused from his slumber by a familiar voice.

"...nis! Ignis! Ignis, wake up!" Celia said, her voice cutting through the darkness.

"Huh, what... Celia?" the boy asked as his eyes fluttered open.

"Ignis, please wake up!" Terra said with absolute urgency in her voice. She was wearing the pink gemstone necklace that Celia had made for her.

"Ugh, Celia, Terra? What's going on?" he asked in confusion as he rubbed the sleep out of his eyes.

He glanced at a nearby window and saw that it was still dark out.

"Ignis, hurry! There's a really bad storm outside! And everyone else is gone!" Celia said with worry, her lapis lazuli gemstone necklace glinting in relation to the flashes of lightning that were coming from outside.

Because of all of the high mountains that surrounded the valley, storms weren't very common, especially terrible ones.

The boy looked around the room and saw that everyone else was gone. He then looked out of the window and saw a terrible storm raging outside.

"A storm?" the boy said in confusion. It took him a few seconds for realization to kick in. "Oh, no, the wagon!" he said as his eyes widened in fear. He immediately shot up off of the floor and raced out of the door.

Celia and Terra glanced at each other before racing after friend and crush.

Moments later Samantha Zoromaki, Aeros' Angela's, and Celia's mother, came down the stairs, a look of worry worn on her beautiful face.

"Aeros…? Angela…? Celia…? Is everything alright?" she asked worriedly as she came down the stairs.

She saw that the living room was completely empty and that the front door was open. She felt a sense of dread came over her as she watched the storm rage outside.

'_Aeros, Celia, Angela. Please be okay!_' the woman thought fearfully as she ran out to find her children.

* * *

**Play Theme Night of Fate**

Ignis, Celia, and Terra made it to the forest in record time. Right at the forest's entrance, staring up at the dark sky, was Aeros, his azure gemstone catching the light of each flash of lightning.

"Aeros!" Ignis shouted, catching his best friend's attention. "What's that?" he asked as he stared at what the brunet was staring at.

Hanging ominously in the air was a giant sphere of swirling dark energy.

"I don't know but I have a terrible feeling about this." Aeros said as he looked back up at the ball of dark energy.

"Aeros!" Celia shouted of the wind and freezing rain. "Where's Angela?" she said feeling fearful for her little sister's safety.

"She and the others are inside the forest! C'mon!" the boy shouted and ran inside.

Ignis, Celia, and Terra ran in after their friend, the well being of the others being the first thing on their minds.

Shortly after the children ran in, a panting, Samantha stopped at the entrance. She was soaking wet with her nightgown clinging to her skin, completely showing off her amazing body (and the fact that she wasn't even wearing a bra was a plus too). Her long dark brown hair was sticking to her face and obscuring her vision. Her bare feet were caked with mud from running down the soaked road.

"These tracks... the kids are here!" she said as she looked at the entrance to the forest. She had the sudden urge to look up and when she did, she saw the sphere of dark energy and it filled her with nothing but dread. '_I have to hurry!_' she thought with renewed vigor.

Just before she ran into the forest a pair of shadows that were blacker than black appeared on the ground in front of her.

The shadows rose from the ground and turned into strange creatures that were roughly humanoid in appearance but no bigger than that of a small child and more greatly resembled an ant. The creatures had ink-black skin, small zigzagging antennae, clawed hands with three fingers on each, round feat with no toes, and empty yellow eyes.

The creatures chirped to each other as they came out of the ground.

The woman looked at the creatures in fear. '_No!_' she thought as she was completely petrified by the site of them.

She backed away as the creatures crept towards her.

But then a scream, a child's scream resounded from within the forest. Samantha immediately recognized who it came from.

"Celia!" she shouted as ice cold fear gripped her heart. almost immediately her protective maternal instincts kicked in and it filled her with the strength she needed to save her children.

"Get outta my way, you monsters! Thunder!" she shouted as a bolt of lightning struck the ground where the creatures stood, causing the creatures to explode into black mist as they died. '_Hang on kids! Mama's coming!_' she thought as she ran into the forest.

* * *

Several minute before Aeros, Celia, Ignis, and Terra were running down the trail at top speed after encountering the mysterious shadow creatures.

"What were those things?!" Celia asked frantically while her brother held her hand as they ran through the forest.

"I have no idea!" Aeros said feeling a little panicked. All of his attacks had phased right through those creatures. "I think it's best that we avoid them completely!" he said as he and Celia jumped over an exposed root. Though he wouldn't admit this out loud, he was absolutely terrified, not for his own life, but for Celia's and Angela's lives.

They stopped running when they had reached a familiar fork in the road. The fork split the road up three ways. The central road led to the giant tree at the heart of the forest. The road to the left led to the lake at the western edge of the forest where they always watched the sunset. And the final road to the right lead to the clearing, where the wagon was. But there was an obstacle that was preventing them from taking the path to the right as well as the central path. A pair of mysterious, wooden doors. And a magic barrier prevented them from simply going around the doors as well.

'_Where did these doors came from?_' Aeros thought as he examined one of the doors. '_Better go find Angela first and make sure she's okay._' he thought before turning to go down the only available path.

But before he could start down the path, he heard Celia release a blood curdling scream of pure terror.

He turned to see that his sister, Ignis, and Terra were all surrounded by the mysterious shadow creatures and that the redhead was kneeling on the ground while clutching his arm, which was bleeding heavily. But before he could attempt to help his friends, several rock spikes shot out of the ground and impaled all of the creatures, causing them to explode into clouds of black mist.

"Geez, you guys can't go five minutes without having to save your butts." said a familiar female voice.

Everyone looked and saw Toph emerge from the brush, her jade gemstone swaying with every step. She was covered in dirt and a small amount of blood most likely her own.

"Toph!" Celia shouted excitedly, relieved to see that one of her friends was relatively unharmed.

"You're alright!" Terra said happy to see that her friend was okay.

"You know that it would take a lot more than a bunch of freaky monsters to take me down." the Geomancer said with a smirk.

"Thanks for saving us Toph." Ignis said as he winced in pain.

"Ignis!" Terra called out in worry as she crouched down next to the boy.

"Ignis, do you have the Hi-Potion I gave you earlier?" Celia asked as she crouched down next to the boy.

The redhead nodded in confirmation and took out the bottle. Celia then took the bottle and uncorked it. She poured the curative liquid onto the wound causing the boy to hiss in pain as it healed.

"Thanks I feel better now." Ignis said gratefully as he stood up.

"C'mon guys, the more time we waist standing around, the more Angela could be in danger!" Aeros said urgently as he looked at his friends.

Everyone nodded and the party proceeded to go down the only available path.

Moments later Samantha reached the fork in the road. She looked at the tracks and saw that they led down the path to the left.

'_The lake!_' she thought and ran down the path.

* * *

When the children reached the lake they did not find a very good sight. The area near the entrance looked to have seen a fierce battle and a little ways away was the dead body of a large male Orc. The Orc seemed to be of the same type as Delma, sharing many physical characteristics with her such as, small bony plates on various parts of the body, a long tail originating from in between the shoulder blades, bony spikes growing from the arms and legs, which act as shoulder, knee, and elbow guards, sharp teeth, and horns that were the same color as his black hair growing from the head. But the only differing traits with Delma were that he was bigger, chubbier, had bull-like horns, and had green skin.

Nearby the corpse were Kharg and Paulette. Both of the looked as though they had been in a boxing match with Mike Tyson, and lost. Luckily both of them were still alive, just unconscious and wounded.

Further ahead Darc was standing with an unconscious and heavily beaten Delma in his arms. And if one looked closely, they would notice two things. One, it looked as if a piece of Delma's left horn had been broken off. And two, Darc was missing his wings.

The Half-Deimos was walking towards the lake's shore where, lo and behold, Marie Angela Zoromaki stood, staring at the large sphere of dark energy that seemed to float directly over it.

"Angela!" Aeros shouted as he ran to where his younger sister stood.

"Celia, Terra! Go see if you can help Kharg and Paulette! Toph, you stand guard!" Ignis said as he ran off after his best friend.

The two girls ran off to the two downed children to see how they could help. Toph followed and stood guard over the two girls as they went to work.

Within moments Aeros and Ignis had reached the shore.

"Angela! Where are the others? I thought they were with you!" Ignis said as he shielded his face from the fierce winds.

"The door has opened..." both Angela and Darc said as if they were in a trance.

"What?" Aeros asked in confusion.

"The door has opened, big brother!" Angela replied as both she and the Half-Deimos turned to face the two boys. "Now we can go to the outside world!" she said excitedly, her topaz gemstone glinted as she moved.

"What are you talking about Angela?! We've got to find the others!" Ignis said urgently.

"They're coming with us!" Angela immediately replied.

Both Aeros and Ignis seemed taken aback by this.

Aeros noted that there was something off about his younger sister. It was as if she wasn't being herself.

"Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back." she said with the utmost conviction. "But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!" she said with utmost sincerity.

Angela extended her hand out as if inviting the boys to join in. Her eyes were pleading them to came along, to not abandon her.

"Angela..." Aeros said softly.

But before either Aeros or Ignis could do anything a pool of darkness opened up beneath both Darc's and Angela's feet. Tendrils of darkness crawled up their bodies, attempting to swallow them and anyone near them. But neither Darc, nor Angela, resisted.

"Angela!" Ignis said in alarm as he reached out to grab the girl's outstretched hand and pull her out of the swarming mass of dark energy.

"No!" Aeros said frozen in fear at what was transpiring before him.

Just as the redhead was about to grab the younger girl's hand, he felt the dark tendrils grab onto him and crawl up his body, attempting to devour him as well. All he could do was reach for Angela's hand, even as the darkness fully engulfed him.

"Ignis!" Aeros shouted in fear.

Ignis saw nothing but darkness. Pitch blackness that stretched on into eternity. How long was he in there? A minute…? A day…? A year…? He wasn't sure. But then there was a bright light. And it chased away the darkness.

The next thing he knew, Ignis was standing on the shore of the lake again. Angela, Darc, nor Delma were anywhere in sight.

"Ignis, you're all right!" Aeros said in relief as he ran up to his friend. "What's that?" he asked, referring to the odd object in the redhead's hand.

Ignis looked at the object in his hand and saw that it was an odd sword that resembles a skeleton key in its overall shape. It had a green handle and a rectangular, black guard with long spikes on each of its corners. The long shaft was silver and had concave edges, and ended in a spike resembling those on the Nobody symbol. The silver teeth were shaped like a large arrowhead. The blade had a key chain hooked onto the end of it. And the Keychain token was a diamond resembling the weapon's teeth. The weapon's name was True Lights Flight.

**Keyblade...**

**Keyblade...**

"A Keyblade?" the boy said in confusion.

"Well, whatever it's called, it just saved your life!" Aeros said as he stared at the odd weapon.

"Let's go find the others." Ignis said with a fire and a determination shining in his bright emerald green eyes that Aeros had never seen before.

Aeros gazed sadly at the spot where his sister once stood before looking back to his friend and nodding in agreement.

The two boys made their way back to the spot where Celia and Terra were treating Kharg and Paulette, only to see that Samantha was among them. She had arrived shortly after them and had helped Celia and Terra heal Kharg and Paulette. And both children were conscious and fully healed.

"Mom?! What are you doing here?!" Aeros asked in shock. He did _not_ expect his mother to be here.

"When I came down stairs, I saw that the living room completely empty and that the front door was open. I was worried that you would all get hurt, and see all of these monsters about, my fears were all but confirmed. But enough about that, Where's Angela?" she asked looking about. She had seen her youngest daughter standing at the edge of the lake, but had to focus on healing Kharg and Paulette, so she didn't see what happened.

Aeros and Ignis looked down in shame.

"Boys, where's Angela?" she asked a bit more firmly.

Neither boy answered.

Samantha then noticed the weapon in Ignis' hand and a cold feeling welled up in her gut. "Boys, tell me what happened. Where's Angela?!" she asked more fearful for her daughter's safety.

"She's gone..." Ignis said in a somber tone.

"Gone? What do you mean gone?!" the woman asked near hysterically.

"The darkness... It took her away mama." Aeros said sadly. "And there wasn't anything we could've done to save her!" he said his voice filled with self-loathing.

"Oh, no, Angela... My little angel..." she said as she began to cry for the loss of her youngest child.

"Mom... Let's go. We'll have time to mourn later. We have to find the others before they get hurt." Celia said as soothingly as she could.

The woman managed to pull herself together enough to stand up.

"You're right. Now's not the time for this." she said as she stared at her other daughter. '_When did she become so mature? Is it because of what's happening right now? or has she always been like this?_' she thought in wonder as she followed the children out of the lake-side area.

* * *

Soon enough the party reached the fork in the road and saw that the door leading to the clearing was open.

"C'mon! The others might need our help!" Ignis said as he started towards the available path, only to stop when more of the strange shadow creatures appeared before him. "I do _not_ have time for this!" the redhead shouted impatiently as he got into a new battle stance. (Titano Man XIII: Think Sora's battle stance.)

The creatures hissed fearfully at the site of Ignis' Keyblade.

"You guys are afraid of this?" he asked and glanced at his new weapon. "Well, if you don't back off, then I'll use this thing on you!" the boy said as threateningly as he could.

It didn't look like the creatures understood him for they pounced at him with their claws extended, aiming to slash him apart.

Ignis reacted quickly and batted one of them out of the air while dodging the rest.

The creatures quickly went in for another attack but the redhead was too quick and easily dispatched the monsters.

"Ignis, that was amazing! When did you learn how to fight like that?" Celia asked in amazement as she ran up and hugged the boy.

"Just now, I guess." he replied sheepishly.

Aeros looked on feeling a little jealous that he wasn't the one that fought off the strange monsters. He suddenly felt a gentle hand on his shoulder and saw that his mother was giving him a sympathetic look. He felt his jealousy die away.

'_It doesn't matter who's fighting off those monsters. Just as long as we're all together and that we're all safe._' Aeros thought with firm resolution.

* * *

The party of eight soon made their way down the path with Ignis batting away any of the creatures that barred their path.

When they reached the clearing they came upon a troublesome sight.

Luneth, Arc, and Refia were standing in front of a pile of charred wreckage that was once the wagon and were surrounded by a swarm of shadow creatures. Their respective gemstone necklaces flashing with light along with every bolt of lightning.

"We have to help them!" Terra said urgently.

"Right!" Ignis said and charged at the swarm of creatures.

With the aid of Samantha, and Terra's black magic, and Toph's geomancer abilities, all of the creatures were easily dispatched.

"Thanks. For a minute there, I thought we were goners." Luneth said in gratitude.

"No problem." Ignis said with a grin.

"Hey, where's Lilia?" Kharg asked in concern when he saw that his friend wasn't in the clearing.

"You mean she's not with you?!" Refia asked in shock. She and Lilia had become fast friends in the short time they had known each other.

"She wasn't by the lake when we went over there." replied Terra.

"Then the only place she could possibly be at is the giant tree in the heart of the forest." Aeros replied grimly.

"Then let's hurry! Every moment we waste is another moment she could be in danger!" Kharg said before running off towards the clearing's entrance.

* * *

Within moments everyone had reached the forest's intersection and saw that the door barring the path to the tree was now open.

Without wasting any time, the party of eleven ran down the path.

* * *

Soon enough they reached the great tree, but Lilia was nowhere in sight.

"She might be hiding in the Crystal Cave hidden under the tree." Ignis said as he pointed at the great tree that sat atop the hill.

Everyone raced up the hill and reached the cave's hidden entrance.

"Ladies first." Ignis said courteously.

Aeros gave Ignis a look.

"What?" the boy asked indignantly.

The girls crawled into the hole one by one, the boys following soon after.

**End Theme**

* * *

The party entered the crystal cave, which, luckily, was big enough to hold all of them.

Standing in the middle of the chamber, staring at the mysterious wooden door, was Lilia.

"Lilia!" both Ignis and Kharg shouted as they entered the room causing the girl to turn around.

"Thank goodness! You're all okay!" she said with relief in her voice. "I was afraid that the monsters that man had told me about might've hurt you." she said thankfully.

"Wait, what man?" Aeros asked in suspicion.

"I believe she is referring to _Me_." a mysterious man said as he stepped out of the shadow of one of the giant root pillars located at the back of the cave next to the door.

The man had short swept back white hair and blue eyes. He wore a blue long coat with three tails and a snake like pattern on the right side of the jacket. Under that he wore a dark blue vest, dark pants, and long brown boots. Held in his left hand was a katana with an ornate bronze oval shaped guard, a tsuka-ito that seemed to be braided from white and black material, and a black scabbard, made of traditional lacquered wood, and features several metallic ornaments on its far end. It also features a yellow sageo, the cord used to tie the katana to the waist. This was Vergil. The eldest son of the great demon knight Sparda.

"Who are you?" Aeros asked hostilely.

"That is of no importance." the man said with a scoff. "I am to retrieve that girl before this world is plunged into darkness." the man said as he pointed at Lilia.

"What do you want Lilia for?" Ignis asked as he, Aeros and Kharg stepped in between him and the young brunette.

Ignis got into his battle stance and Kharg pulled out his sword and got into his stance. Aeros not wanting to just sit back and watch his friends fight pulled out his wooden sword and got into a battle stance. (T. : an altered version of Riku's battle stance. Instead of having his left arm extended, he has it wrapped loosely around the handle.) He may not have a weapon that can lay a significant amount of damage, but he'd be damned if he just sat by and let his friends fight when he knew that he could be of assistance.

Vergil scoffed. "You wish to fight? You are nothing more than children with fancy toys. Allow me to show you your place." he said as he drew his blade Yamato.

**Play Theme Vergil Battle 1**

Kharg immediately dashed towards the blue clad swordsman and aimed to cut the man in half with an overhead slash.

The white haired man blocked the attack with very little effort.

"Amateur." the man muttered before batting the boy away.

Aeros and Ignis decided to double team the swordsman by slashing him with a horizontal slash.

Vergil blocked both of their attacks; he had blocked Aeros' attack with his scabbard while he had blocked Ignis' attack with his sword.

"It's obvious that you were both self-taught." he said before twirling and knocking both boys away with his scabbard and the back of his sword respectively.

Both boys flew through the air before hit the walls opposite of each other.

Vergil heard something twirling through the air before he saw Paulette throw her Sling Knife at him.

He easily sidestepped the projectile and grabbed the thin wire that was attached to it. With a sharp yank he caused the red and brown clad brunette to stumble towards him. Faster than the girl could recover he had closed the distance between them and had clothes lined her. And while she was airborne he struck her stomach with the back of his sword causing her to hit the ground hard enough to bounce once off of it.

Luneth went in next and went for a heavy diagonal slash.

The blue clad swordsman dodged the attack by stepping back before kneeing the silver haired boy in the stomach. He then kicked the boy away, sending him flying through the cave.

"Fire!" Arc shouted sending a small fire ball at the swordsman.

"Aero!" Refia shouted sending a ball of compressed wind at the swordsman.

The two magic spells merged together and created a bigger, stronger ball of fire.

The fireball hit Vergil at exploded into a large inferno.

When the fire died down Vergil was nowhere in sight.

"We did it!" Refia said feeling victorious.

But before either Arc or Refia could celebrate their apparent victory, they heard a voice coming from right behind them.

"Impressive." Vergil said shocking the two children. Combining your spells to create an even more powerful one. You have much to learn in the ways of the mystic arts, but your skills are quite impressive." the man complimented, which threw the two for a loop.

The white haired man then sucker punched Arc before sheathing his blade and back handing Refia.

Both children were sent crashing into nearby walls.

The half demon then turned to Samantha, who was standing protectively in front of both Lilia and Celia.

"Don't you dare come near them!" she growled as electricity arced up and down her arms.

"What can _you_ do to me?" the man said coldly as he drew his blade.

"Just watch." she said in a dangerous tone.

Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your view of the situation, Kharg recovered and charged at him intending run his blade through the man. But the son of Sparda sidestepped him and struck him in the back with his sword.

The boy collapsed onto the floor unconscious with a large gash going down the length of his back.

"Kharg!" Paulette shouted in shock as she stood up..

"Why you!" Ignis growled as he charged at the man.

"Ignis wait!" Aeros called out in warning.

"You should have listened to your friend." Vergil said as he blocked a series of slashes from Ignis.

The expert swordsman locked blades with Ignis and the two of them stood in a stalemate.

"Do you even know how to use this sword of yours?" he asked in an almost bored tone which caused Ignis to growl irritably at him.

"I don't need to!" the boy growled out as he tried to push the man back. "All I have to do is keep you busy!" he said with a smirk, causing the swordsman to arch a brow in confusion.

Ignis jumped back just as a small pillar of crystal suddenly shot up from the ground at an angle and hit the half demon in the gut.

Vergil grunted in pain as he was sent flying to the back of the cave.

"Nice one Toph!" the redhead said as he came to stand next to the blind girl.

"Yeah I know. I'm awesome." she said cockily as she polished her fingernails on her shirt.

"A Geomancer. Very impressive. But it's time that I end this little play date of ours." Vergil said as he stood up.

The swordsman suddenly disappeared from sight.

"What? Where did he go?" Aeros asked as he looked about the cave but saw no sign of the man.

Suddenly a large spray of blood erupted from Paulette's torso and she collapsed onto the ground without making a sound.

"Paulette" Refia shouted in alarm only moments before a large spray of blood spurted out of her torso. She gasped before losing consciousness due to shock.

The same thing happened to Luneth and Arc within moments of each other.

On instinct, Ignis moved in front of Toph and successfully block Vergil's attack.

The swordsman's eyes had widened slightly in surprise. He had not expected a mere human to block his attack. He inwardly admitted that the boy had some skill, and with the proper training, might even be a worthy opponent, assuming that he would somehow survive this world's fall into darkness.

"Toph, are you okay?" Ignis asked as he held off Vergil's sword.

"Y-yeah." she said in awe. She was able to see Ignis move in front of her due to her special ability to "see" her surrounding through the vibrations in the ground. It's so acute that it could pick up an ant's movements up to five meters away. But Vergil was somehow moving faster than she could perceive, thus why she was only able to hit him when Ignis was holding him still. The fact that the redhead had jumped in front of the attack to save her with so little regard towards his own safety had touched the blind girl in a way she wasn't familiar with. "Thanks Ignis." she said gratefully.

"Impressive. I certainly did not expect you to block my attack. But I'm afraid that your luck has run out." he said before punching Ignis, causing him to crash into Toph and send the both of them crashing into the wall that was behind them. They hit the wall with enough force to not only disorient Ignis, but also make Toph lose consciousness, since she took up the brunt of the impact.

"Blizzard!" both Samantha and Terra said in tandem as the simultaneously released large blocks of ice from their hands.

The two spells came towards the blue clad man, but he shocked them both when he slashed at the two blocks of ice and the spells literally disintegrated into fine ice crystals. The shocking thing was that they had only seen him s swing his sword once.

"Is that the best you got?" he asked as he turned to the woman and the girl.

"Thu-" Samantha tried to cast her next spell, but Vergil moved too quickly and disappeared from her sights. He then impaled the woman through her stomach with his sword from behind.

The mother of three looked down at the blade that was sticking out of her stomach.

Vergil quickly pulled out his sword making Samantha cough up some blood and collapse onto the ground, barely conscious.

"Mom!" both Aeros and Celia called out in in a mixture of concern and fear.

The half demon swordsman then looked at the last few obstacles in his way.

Aeros stood in front of him while trying to look threatening with his wooden sword.

Behind the boy Terra stood shaking uncontrollably with fear.

Behind Terra were Celia and Lilia, both of them cowering in fear.

"I'll ask you only once, give me the girl and I'll spare all of your lives." he said as he pointed his sword at Aeros.

"No way! I'd rather die than let you take one of my friends away!" Aeros growled out with pure conviction.

"As you wish." the man said coldly.

Vergil quickly sped forward and punched Aeros very hard into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and making him drop his wooden sword.

Even as the boy fell to the ground, Vergil played it safe and backhanded Terra before she could cast a spell. The slap was hard enough to not only knock her to the ground but leave a very nasty bruise on her cheek as well as give her a black eye, which became swelled shut within seconds.

The blue clad swordsman turned to the violently coughing Aeros and raised his blade.

"Farewell... human." the white haired man muttered just before he brought down his hair.

"Aeros!" Ignis shouted in horror after finally regaining his senses.

"No!" Samantha shouted in fear as she tried to reach for her son.

Time seemed to slow down as Vergil's blade arched downwards towards its target, but something happened that shocked everyone that was still conscious, including the son of Sparda.

Faster than any one could perceive, Celia had jumped in front of the attack and acted as a human shield, taking all of the damage.

Aeros looked on in a mixture of shock and horror as his adopted sister stood in front of him with her arms outstretched to the sides.

"I won't... let you... hurt my... big brother..." she said weakly just before a torrent of blood erupted from her chest. She then lost consciousness and began to fall.

Aeros was able recover just in time to catch his sister before she had hit the ground.

"Celia!" he shouted in fear.

"She had sacrificed herself to prolong your life, even if it was only for a moment. There truly aren't that many humans that are as selfless as her." the swordsman said as he once again lifted his blade.

'_Why?_' Aeros thought as he stared at his sister. Time seemed to slow down once again as his mind raced a mile a minute. '_Why can't I protect anyone? Ignis... Terra... Luneth... Refia... Arc... Toph... mom... Angela... Celia... I couldn't protect any of them!_' he thought as he closed his eyes in shame and self-loathing. '_I've been nothing but useless throughout this whole ordeal! Why did they make me the leader? A leader is supposed to protect those he lead, right? But I can't! I'm useless. Maybe I should just die and save everyone the trouble._' he thought as he tightened his grip on Celia. '_No! I'm not a burden! Everyone trusts me because they know that I will always come through for them!_' as if a dam had broken, a great power began surging through him. '_I _can _protect everyone! I won't let anyone get hurt again! Not while I have the power to do something about it! No matter what! I won't have people like Celia get hurt or be put in harm's way as long as I'm still alive!_' he thought with firm resolution as time began to move at a normal pace again.

Vergil suddenly jumped back as a torrent of darkness came out Aeros' body.

'_What... is this power?_' the son of Sparda thought as he watched the dark energy flow out of the boy.

Aeros stood up with his sister cradled in his arms. He walked over to a nearby wall and sat her against it.

"I promise Celia, _no one_ is ever going to hurt you, ever again." the boy said as he brushed some of the girl's blue-gray hair away from her face.

Aeros stood back up and looked at Vergil. There was strength in his eyes, strength that none of his friends, nor his mother, had ever seen before.

"I'm only going to tell you this once. Leave now, or face the consequences!" he said as he threw his right arm out to his side.

The dark energy suddenly flared and began moving to his outstretched hand. Darkness swirled around the limb as it began to condense and take shape.

To everyone's shock the darkness had transformed into a Keyblade. The Keyblade's shaft had a deep-grey edge which curves in at intervals, the inside fading from dark red to black from its base, which has several angled lines pointing toward the guard as the center bears a bright red line, stretching to the tip as it leads to an equally red rune marking. The teeth were axe-like, with the same coloration as the top of the shaft, an angled piece and several lines cut out, giving the illusion of teeth. The guard is a dark steel blue and has a hexagonal shape with numerous semicircles imprinted around it. The hilt is plain black. The Keychain bears a strong resemblance to the one on a certain dark Keyblade master's blade. This Keyblade's name was Darkgnaw.

"So what's it going to be?" the boy said as he took his battle stance.

But before anyone could do anything, they heard a man's voice call out to Vergil from the cave's entrance.

**End Theme**

"Well, this sure is a fine load of shit that you've gotten yourself into Vergil. I ask you to do one thing and you manage to screw that up! Oh well, we learned quite a bit from watching you fight these brats, so it's not all that bad." the mystery man said from within the shadows of the tunnel that led into the cave. Thrown over his shoulder was an unconscious Lilia.

"Hazama." Vergil said as the man stepped into the light. (Titano Man XIII: I was _SO _tempted to end the chapter right here. Total cliffhanger! But nah, I'm not that evil. I wouldn't do that to you... yet. * smiles evilly*.)

Hazama's appearance was taken after the shady, creepy archetype. He had bright green hair and an ever-present smile with his eyes closed, belying a demonic nature. He wore a simple black suit with a white shirt underneath, short brown gloves, and brown steel-toed shoes. He donned a pair of black trousers held up by two brown belts. He completed the outfit with a black fedora hat to close the shady visage.

**Play Theme Gluttony Fang**

"Who are you?" Aeros said hostilely as he pointed his Keyblade at the shady individual.

"Oh, how rude of me not to introduce myself!" the man replied in embarrassment. "I am Hazama from the Novus Orbis Librarium's intelligence department." he said as he took off his hat with his free hand and bowed the best he could without letting Lilia fall off from his shoulder. "I think my rank is uh, captain?" he said with an unsure look on his face. "Oh well, that's not going to matter in the next few seconds." the man said with a snake-like smile.

"What do you mean?" Samantha said after healing her injury.

"Weren't you paying attention at all?" the man asked in a way that suggested that he was talking to an idiot. "This whole world is about to go bye-bye." he said, his grin never fading.

"What?!" Ignis said in shock.

"What? Did I mumble?" he asked rhetorically as he cupped his ear. "This whole world is being devoured by the Heartless and everyone and everything on it will either get lost in darkness, or die. Simple as that." the green haired man said with a casual shrug.

"Are... Are you the cause of all of this madness?!" Samantha asked angry at the man's calm dismissal of her home's destruction.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." the man said with sick smile. "It's not really going to matter in a couple of seconds, but hey I'm feeling generous." he said as a portal made of dark energy appeared behind him as he cracked open his eyes, revealing them to be a bright golden color with snake-like slits for pupils, which glowed demonically from under the shadow that was cast by his hat. "I left a little friend outside for you kids to play with, you'll like him, he's a real _killer_!" he said before bursting into maniacal laughter. "It's been fun, but my white haired friend here, and I have to go. Bye bye." Hazama said before he and Vergil entered the dark portal.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ignis shouted as he dashed after them he attempted to jump through the portal after them, but said portal disappeared before he could even touch it.

**End Th****eme**

"Damn it! Where did those two go?!" Aeros shouted as he looked around for any sign of the portal's origin.

But the attention of all those still conscious was caught by a loud banging sound originating from the door in the back of the cave. It sounded as though something was trying to force its way in, or out.

Before anything could be done, the door swung open and a surge of dark wind surged forth blowing everyone, whether conscious or not, out of the cave.

* * *

The next thing Aeros and Ignis knew, they had crashed onto a small island of earth that was floating in the middle of a dark maelstrom. And floating directly above them was the sphere of dark energy, only this time much, much bigger.

Luckily everyone landed on the same island and those who had lost consciousness during the battle with Vergil were waking up.

"Oh, my head." Toph groaned as she rubbed the back of her head.

"Can someone tell me... how we're not dead?" Luneth said with a wince.

"I think he went easy on us." Arc said as he sat up.

"Let's wonder why we're still alive later. We have to heal our injuries." Refia said as she and Samantha began healing the party's wounds.

Ignis looked around and spotted Celia lying unconscious on the ground on the other side of the small island.

"Celia!" he shouted as he began to run to the girl but he quickly stopped when a giant fist nearly crushed him. "Whoa!" he said in alarm as he jumped back just as the attack hit the ground.

Ignis followed the fist until his eyes landed on the creature that was connected to it.

He saw a massive, muscular, humanoid Heartless with black skin. Its legs were rather short and its feet were very thin and curled upward. Its arms were quite long, and it had two relatively small, twisted wings on its back. There was a large, heart-shaped hole in the Heartless' abdominal area, which penetrates straight through from the front to the back. Its head was covered in dozens of twisted, black tentacles. Only its small, glowing yellow eyes were visible. This creature was a Darkside. A powerful Heartless from the Realm of Darkness.

**Play Theme Destiny's Force**

'_What the heck is that thing?!_' Ignis thought in fear as he stared at the giant. Though he did subconsciously remember seeing the creature in a dream once.

"What is that thing?!" Paulette shouted in fear. She had seen plenty of giants before, but never one that looked like this.

"It must be the "friend" that the creep back there was talking about." Aeros said as he got into a battle stance. "Alright here's our strategy. This thing is standing between us and my sister. So Ignis and I are going to distract it while Kharg and Luneth sneak past it and grab my sister. Once she's safe, you two will help us in with a frontal assault. Mom, Arc, Refia, Terra, you four will support us with your magic. If any of us get hurt during the fight then heal us, okay?" he asked as he looked at his mother specifically.

Samantha wanted to argue. But then she saw that strength in his eyes. The strength that reminded her of her son's father, the man she loved with all of her heart. She knew that, just by looking into his eyes that everything was going to be alright. "Got it!" the woman said in confirmation.

"Good." he said in a serious tone but gave his mother a small reassuring smile. "Paulette, I can tell by that knife of yours that you're more useful at a distance. So you'll support us better by attacking from the back row." he said to which the brunette nodded. "And Toph you'll be on support too. Your job is to keep that thing off balance. So I want you to shake things up the best you can without throwing the rest of us of balance as well." he said while looking at the blind girl.

"Geez, can you make my job any harder pretty boy? That thing's practically invisible to me!" she said while flailing her arms about.

"Then do the best you can." Aeros said in a no nonsense tone making the girl shut up.

"Right, you go it!" the geomancer said nervously. She wasn't sure about what had happened while she was knocked out, but she knew that Aeros was now a lot more bad ass.

"Alright! Let's teach this thing not to mess with us!" Aeros shouted encouragingly.

"Yeah!" everyone else shouted feeling pumped up.

Aeros and Ignis assumed their battle stances and charged at the giant Heartless.

The giant made the first move by coating its right arm in dark energy and punching the ground.

The attack opened a dark portal in which summoned a small battalion of Shadow Heartless.

Aeros and Ignis focused on eliminating the Shadows while their comrades focused on attacking the Darkside's outstretched arm.

The monster pulled back it arm and sank to its knees, launching a volley of dark energy shortly after.

Suddenly Luneth, and Kharg came and stood next to the two Keyblade wielders.

"Is Celia safe?" Aeros asked as he dodged the monster's attack, not taking his eyes off of the Heartless for a second.

"Yeah… We put her over by your mom." said Luneth.

Aeros looked back and saw that his mother had started treating her wound.

"Good. Now let's finish this thing off once and for all!" the leader said as he swung his blade once through the air before assuming his stance once again.

For the next few minutes everyone attacked the Darkside with all they had. Every time the Heartless had summoned Shadows to aid it in battle, the smaller creatures were quickly destroyed. Everything was looking up, until...

The Darkside launched a powerful punch aimed at Ignis. The boy was able to block the attack, but it sent him tumbling backwards. He stopped with a grimace. He looked back up to see the Heartless aim another punch at him.

"Ignis look out!" Terra shouted as she shielded him from the attack.

"Terra no!" the redhead shouted in fear as he watched his friend step in front of him.

But what happened next shocked everyone that had witnessed it.

The green haired girl had caught the attack with her bare hands!

"I won't... let you... hurt the man I love!" She said in exertion as power literally arched off of her like electricity.

And in a sudden flash of light, Terra Branford had gone through a transformation. The first thing Ignis noticed was that Terra was now completely naked. Her hair was no longer tied into a ponytail, it now was long and wild and reached her rear, and her body and hair were vivid lavender with yellow claws on her hands and feet, while her face was a paler shade, almost white, and she had bright red lips and red lining around her eyes, giving her a more savage yet elegant appearance. Her lips were pulled back into a snarl, exposing a pair of sharpened canines. All in all, the girl looked very intimidating, despite her young age.

With a mighty roar Terra pushed the Darkside's fist back, enough to stagger it.

Everyone was amazed with the girl's sudden increase in strength.

Faster than anyone thought possible Terra appeared in front of the Heartless' face, up in the air I might add, and gave a powerful swipe on its face with her claws.

The attack had cause massive amounts of damage.

The Esperkin landed on the ground, very much like a cat, and had jumped back and crouched down on all fours, like an animal that was preparing to pounce.

"Terra?" Ignis asked in awe.

The girl looked at the redhead and her fierce expression softened. She smiled at Ignis and lowered her head as if asking him to pet her. The boy obliged and the Esperkin released a content sigh, and for a moment Ignis thought he heard his friend purr like a cat. (T. : What? I can't help but think that she would behave a little like an animal when she transforms. Plus it makes her look absolutely adorable most of the time!)

'_So the High Priestess was right. Terra's father really was an Esper._' Samantha thought in awe as she stared at the now transformed child.

* * *

Meanwhile standing on a chunk of earth some distance away from the battle, Hazama, sans Lilia, and Vergil were watching this new development with interest.

"Well there's something that you don't see every day." the captain said with interest.

"So my suspicions were correct." Vergil said as he looked at the half Esper.

"Come again?" the shifty looking man said as he looked at the swordsman.

"Earlier, I had sensed a great power coming from her, a power somewhat similar to my own. But now that I know what she _truly_ is, I just might consider to make an attempt to sway her to our side. Power like hers should be used wisely." the white haired man said emotionlessly.

"You mean against humans." Hazama said with a knowing grin.

"Perhaps." the man said without revealing any other intentions.

"And if you can't convince her to join the winning team?" the green haired man asked, though truthfully, he didn't really give a damn.

"If she proves to no longer be useful then..." Vergil pushed his sword from its scabbard a little with his thumb. "She will be eliminated." he said as he stared at the that was in progress.

Hazama couldn't help but release a dark chuckle.

* * *

Back at the battle, the party capitalized on Terra's sudden boost in power and speed. Causing a great deal of damage to the giant Heartless with each hit they land.

"It looks like that thing is starting to weaken." Aeros said analytically as he looked at the creature before him.

"This fight's taking too long!" Ignis said impatiently as he glanced about the area. Was it his imagination, or was the island getting smaller? "At this rate there will be nothing left to stand on!" he said as he stood next to his fellow Keyblade wielder.

Aeros thought about their situation. He suddenly remembered when Terra, after transforming for the first time, had attacked the creature's eyes and it seemed to have taken a large amount of damage from it. His eyes widened in realization. "That's it!" he said with a snap of his fingers and a confident look on his face.

"What is it?" Aeros' mother said after hearing her son's exclamation.

"I know how to beat this thing!" was all he said before he turned his gaze from his mother to Toph. "Toph, when that thing hits the ground with its fist, I want you to trap it." he said in a commanding tone.

"Got it! At least I can see _those_, and I'm blind." she said more to herself than to anyone else.

"Ignis, when Toph traps it we run up its arm and stab it through the eyes." he said into his friend's ear earning him a nod.

As predicted, the Heartless reared its fist back for a punch.

"Get ready!" he shouted as the creature launched its attack.

**Cinematic Action**

Toph went into action the moment the vibrations from the attack had reached her. With a strong shift in stance, and a sharp raise of her hands, long spikes of rock had pierced its hand and wrist. Working quickly she created a series of restraints to keep the monster further in place.

As soon as the blind girl was done, Aeros immediately ran up the Darkside's arm.

The Heartless noticed him and tried to swat the boy away like a fly.

Time seemed to slow down quickly as the appendage moved towards the brunet. With lightning fast reflexes, Aeros jumped onto the incoming arm and ran up the limb to stab the beast in its left eye.

The giant released a pained roar as Aeros' Keyblade pierced its eye. But the boy's blade was too short to cause any fatal damage to the beast. Aeros cursed that his weapon was too short to slay the beast as he pulled it out. The giant groaned as it covered its now empty socket with its free hand.

But luckily Ignis acted quickly, and ran up its bound arm while it was distracted.

"Hey ugly!" he shouted at the Heartless. "Take this!" the boy slashed at the creature's face just as it removed its hand from view. The slash caused a critical amount of damage, finally defeating the Heartless.

**Cinematic Action: **_**Perfect**_**!**

**End Theme**

The red head jumped off as the creature lumbered backwards, its arm breaking out of the restraints.

It continued to stagger back until it reached the edge of the island. The ground suddenly crumbled beneath its feet, unable to hold its weight, that and Toph had weakened the earth's density from afar. The creature disappeared into the dark depths below.

**Play Theme Victory Fanfare**

Everyone took their own sort of victory pose after the creature fell.

Ignis pumped his left arm into the air before resting his Keyblade's blunt side on his right shoulder, a huge grin on his face.

Aeros swing his Keyblade through the air twice before resting it, the blunt side, on his right shoulder. (Squall's victory pose.)

Terra placed a hand on her chest with a hopeful look on her face. (Her victory pose in Dissidia.)

Toph was waving to an imaginary crowd that was cheering for her before she put her hands on her hips and let a victorious grin stretch across her face.

Luneth stood with his right hand on his hip smiling proudly.

Arc had his left hand on his chest and was looking to and fro, but seemed ultimately relieved that he had survived.

Refia stood with her hands clasped together in front of her chest.

Kharg tossed his sword into the air and caught it before stabbing it into the ground and crossing his arms proudly.

Paulette twirled her knife through the air before catching it and flashing the victory sign with a wink.

And Samantha simply pushed some of her hair from her face before crossing her arms below her breasts, which just so happens to have pushed them up a bit, and look off to the side.

**End Theme**

* * *

"Well that was an interesting fight." Hazama said in a laid back tone.

"Indeed." Vergil said in agreement.

"And we learned quite a bit from watching them. So I'm sure we'll know what to do should those brats ever pop up again." the snake-like man said as he tilted his hat to cast a shadow over his eyes.

"It would be interesting if they survive." stated the swordsman.

"You want to finish your fight later. Don't you?" the green haired man asked knowingly.

"That is none of your business Hazama." Vergil said coldly.

"Hey, no need to bite my head off. Anyways, let's get out while the getting's good." Hazama said as he summoned a portal of darkness and the two men left without ever leaving any proof of them even being there.

* * *

Back with the party, everyone was celebrating their victory.

"Yeah! We did it!" Ignis shouted in victory.

He was suddenly tackled to the ground by Terra, who was still in her Esper form.

The transformed girl rubbed her cheek against Ignis' in apparent happiness.

"I've got to admit... That was pretty tough." Luneth said sighing in relief as he wiped some sweat off of his forehead.

"Yeah." a panting Arc said in agreement.

"Okay, Terra. I'm glad you're alright too." he said as the Esperkin stopped rubbing her cheek against his, although she still looked really happy. "Okay, you can change back to normal now." he said as he gently pushed the admittedly adorable Esperkin of of him.

Terra just sat on her legs and tilted her head to the side in an again admittedly adorable way. Though the look on her face had suggested that she didn't understand what Ignis had just said.

"Terra?" the boy asked his bright emerald eyes laced with worry.

"What's wrong?" Samantha asked as she walked up to the two children.

"Something's wrong with Terra." Ignis said from his seated position on the ground, not taking his eyes off of his friend, even for a single second. In the back of his mind he couldn't help but note how beautiful Terra looked at that moment. Her long wild hair and the red lining around her eyes gave her a feral look, yet retained her innocence. She seemed to have an almost ethereal glow about her, making her look as if she had come straight out of a fairy tale. And her bright, cherry red lips gave a sort of regal feel to her features.

"Really? What seems to be the problem?" the woman asked with slight concern as she switched to doctor mode.

"She didn't change back to normal. And I don't think that she can even understand me." he said a little sadly.

Terra, sensing her friend's sadness, gave him a small reassuring lick to the cheek before nuzzling into the crook of his neck and wrapping her arms around him, causing the poor boy to blush heavily.

"I think I know what happened." the doctor said though she tried, and failed, to suppress a giggle at the adorable scene. "This is only a theory but, perhaps her sudden transformation and the influx of power she had, probably caused her behavior to be more like that of an animal's." she said as she pet the back of Terra's head, eliciting a content sigh and a purr from the girl. "It's a known fact that many of the Espers are animal-like beings that use equal parts instinct and intelligence and could live for thousands of years. But since Terra would still be considered an infant by their standards, then perhaps this is the normal behavior for young Esperkins upon transforming for the first time, if not for the Esper's young as well." she said as she continued to pet the girl she saw as a third daughter. She had happened to have been a good friend to Terra's mother before she had died. Since the accident that killed the girl's mother, she had basically raised the girl as if she were her own. Even though Terra didn't live with them, she was as much as her daughter as Celia was. The woman's eyes suddenly widened in realization. She had nearly forgotten to heal her daughter! "Celia!" she said as she ran to her still unconscious, and critically wounded daughter leaving a very confused Ignis and Terra.

Ignis had been a little confused by the explanation that Aeros' mother had given, but he had gotten the gist of it. But he started to worry about his blue haired friend, remembering the injury she had received from Vergil. He grit his teeth in anger. If he ever saw that white haired swordsman again, then he will beat him to a bloody pulp.

Terra was confused as to why the nice woman had stopped petting her. She had felt the fear and worry that had come off of the woman, but she didn't sense any threats in the area that would cause such emotions. She then felt the anger suddenly flare out from her red haired mate. When she had initially transformed into her Esper form, she found that she little to no memory of anything. All she had were vague memories of a red haired boy, that she had a strong attraction to him, and that her name was Terra. When she had first seen the boy after transforming, her mind, at the time, rationalized that the boy was her mate and that she had to protect him. But now that she felt the sudden and intense anger coming off of her mate, she silently hoped that she wasn't the cause of it. It would be bad if she had displeased her mate somehow.

Terra made a soft whimpering sound and Ignis looked down to see that the Esperkin looked fearful and was trembling slightly. He realized that she thought that he was mad at her. So he sought to rectify that.

"It's okay Terra. I'm not mad at you." the boy said soothingly as he stroked the girl's hair.

The Esperkin seemed to calm down a little and returned to nuzzling the boy's neck.

* * *

Aeros looked at the scene unsure of what to feel at the moment. He was afraid that his friend could possibly be stuck like that for the rest of her life. But that would be the least of his worries at the moment.

"How is she?" the boy asked worriedly as he stood over his mother who was still healing Celia's injury.

"Our little light here is very lucky. If I didn't start healing when I did then we would have lost her. But still, she's lost a lot of blood so she'll be out for a while." Samantha said thanking every deity that exists for letting her save her daughter.

Aeros sat down next to his mother with a sigh. He started stroking his adopted sister's blue-gray hair until he noticed the large scar going down her chest and the fact that she was clad only in a pair of baby blue panties. Aeros stared at the scar on her chest, knowing that his sister will most likely have it for the rest of her life. He was angry with himself for not being strong enough to prevent this from happening.

When his mother had finished healing Celia, Aeros then removed the over-sized hooded sweater wrapped around his waist and slipped it onto her, in order to preserve her modesty. The large garment was very baggy on the girl's tiny frame and just about covered her knees.

* * *

Meanwhile Toph had walked over to Ignis.

"Hey Ignis. I, um, want to thank you for, you know, saving me earlier." the blind ravenette said sheepishly with a small blush on her cheeks as she "looked" at the red head.

"It's no big deal, I can't let one of my friends get hurt after all." he said with a cheerful grin.

"Well still, thanks." she said before crouching down and giving him a thankful kiss on the cheek.

"W-what was that for?" the boy asked as his cheeks turned red.

Toph blushed in a way that made her seem pretty cute, which didn't really fit with the character she usually portrayed herself as. "D-don't go getting the wrong idea or anything! That was just a thank you gift, nothing more, nothing less!" she said while trying to keep up her tough image as she crossed her arms and looked away. Though the blush that was on her face could possibly suggest otherwise.

Terra watched the scene with curiosity. For some odd reason, she didn't feel threatened by the blind girl's presence. _Or_ by the fact that she could feel the slight attraction towards her mate emanating off of the girl. Curious as to why she didn't feel any jealousy, the Esperkin had disentangled herself from her mate and crawled up to the ravenette.

"Um, can I help you?" Toph asked feeling a little weirded out that the half Esper had crawled right up to her and was now sniffing her like some sort of animal

The Esperkin felt that the scent she smelled was very familiar to her and seemed to drag out several fuzzy memories of the girl in front of her. She felt that she was her friend and that she could trust this girl.

Toph was suddenly caught off guard when Terra had suddenly enveloped her in a bone crushing hug.

"I think she recognizes you Toph." Ignis said with a smile. He was glad that his friend was able to recognize the Geomancer. It meant that Terra was still in there somewhere.

Ignis then noticed that the wind was starting to blow harder.

"Hey! Is it me or is the wind starting to blow harder?!" Refia asked as she shielded her face from the increasingly heavy winds.

"It's not just you! We can all feel it!" Aeros said he shielded his own face from the wind.

The wind suddenly increased in force until it was like a vacuum, sucking everything up into the dark swirling vortex above them.

Everyone hung on to whatever they could as best as they could.

Luneth, Refia, and Arc all hung onto an exposed root that was sticking up from the ground.

Kharg and Paulette were trying to keep themselves as low to the ground as they could, a tightly packed patch of grass was the only thing keeping them from being sucked up.

Toph had created a handlebar made of earth for her to hang onto. She held Ignis by the back of his collar with one hand as he held onto Terra as tightly as he could.

Aeros and his mother held onto an exposed root also trying their best to hang on.

It was then that Aeros realized that nothing was keeping Celia from being sucked up by the vortex.

The boy looked to where his sister was only to see her being dragged across the ground towards the center of the small island, where Ignis, Terra, and Toph were, by the wind.

"Celia!" he shouted as the wind started to pick her up.

Acting quickly, the boy was able to put both of his feet on the ground and get into a pouncing position.

Somehow he was able to reach his adopted sister, despite the hurricane force winds, and grab Ignis' outstretched hand before he got too far to reach.

"Hang on!" he said as he held his best friend's hand tightly.

But there was a cracking sound. The boy looked down to see that the handle was starting to crack from all of the weight it was holding, and the growing air pressure.

'_That can't be good._' he thought nervously.

* * *

Things weren't going very well with everyone else, who were starting to lose strength.

"Kharg, I can't hold on anymore!" Paulette shouted as her grip on the surprisingly durable grass was beginning to weaken.

"Hang on a little longer Paulette! We'll get through this somehow!" Kharg said reassuringly to his childhood friend. But his words do not fill her with hope.

"Kharg, there's something I have to tell you!" she said urgently. She hesitated for a moment before deciding to just say it outright. "Kharg, I... I love you! I've always loved you! And nothing would make me happier right now than to be your girlfriend! So will you be my boyfriend?" She asked hoping against all hope that he said yes.

"Paulette..." he said in awe. He never thought that she had feelings other than friendship for him. He had always cared deeply for her and had always wanted to see her happy. He knew that this could very well be the end for both of them, so he decided to throw caution to the wind and let her die happy rather than having her pass on with regret. "Paulette... of course I'll be your boyfriend! I've always cared about you! And I want you to be happy!" he said as he grabbed her hand and entwined their fingers together.

"Oh, Kharg..." she said extremely happy. but just as she was about to move in to have her first kiss, the grass that they had held onto finally gave out and broke, sending them flying into the vortex. And in an even crueler twist of fate, the hands that they had entwined together became undone and the newly minted couple was separated from each other.

Just before Kharg was lost to the darkness, he heard Paulette cry out to him.

* * *

Meanwhile Luneth, Refia, and Arc were struggling to keep their grip on the root that was sticking up from the ground.

"Luneth, Refia! I can't hold on anymore!" Arc shouted as he began to slip.

"Don't give up Arc!" Luneth shouted to his best friend.

"I'm sorry Luneth! But the wind is just too strong!" the brunet said as his grip continued to weaken.

Within moments the aspiring Black Mage's grip slipped from the root and was quickly being sucked into the sky. But Refia was able to grab his hand before he got too far out of their reach, though she had to let go of the root to do so, prompting Luneth to grab his friend's hand before she too became lost to the darkness.

"You're not getting rid of us that easily Arc!" the red haired girl said as she held onto her friend.

"Guys..." Arc said awed by the loyalty his two friends were displaying.

Suddenly they felt a violent tug and saw that the root they were hanging onto was becoming more and more uprooted by the second. And it even showed signs that it was beginning to break.

"Arc! Do something!" Refia said in panic.

"I-I don't know any nature spells!" the boy said in despair.

Luneth started thinking about their situation for a while and came to a very grim decision. "Guys... I'm gonna let go!" he said to the two friends he was holding onto.

"WHAT?!" his friends said in shock.

"We can't fight this thing! It won't stop until the whole world and everyone in it is gone! Besides, everything will be fine if we just stick together!" he said trying to be as reassuring as he could despite the hopeless situation.

Arc and Refia wondered if their friend had lost his mind. But deep down, they knew that they wouldn't be getting out of this situation intact. The brunet and the redhead looked at each other for a moment in a sort of silent debate before looking back to their silver haired friend and the both of them nodded solemnly.

Luneth nodded back to them and took one last look around. The place they had once called home no longer existed. It was now nothing more than an empty void. He looked to the rest of his friends who were still struggling to fight the vortex's suction. He met the gaze of Aeros' mother for a few moments before giving her a small apologetic smile.

The woman's eyes widened in horror when she saw Luneth let go of the root he was holding. She wanted to call out to him tell him not to give up. But he, Refia, and Arc had all been swallowed up by the dark vortex before the words could leave her mouth.

She stared mournfully at the sky for a moment before her eyes went to where Toph, Ignis, Terra, Aeros, and Celia were. She saw that Toph was struggling to keep her grip on the redhead's shirt while holding onto the little handlebar she had made. The situation was absolutely hopeless. There was no way that they would survive being sucked into the darkness. The pain Samantha was feeling was immeasurable. Within the span of a day, she had lost everything. Her home… Her life in the village… Her youngest daughter… All of it gone. And now she was about to lose the last of her family to the darkness. It was so very tempting to just let go and give in to the cold, nothingness of oblivion, but she had to live! Not just for her children, but for her late husband, with whom she had promised to never give up on life, and to always keep her heart strong.

She met Aeros' gaze and saw the helplessness in his eyes. And she knew that he was completely unsure about what to do.

Aeros held his mother's gaze for another minute and saw the worry and fear in her eyes. But he also saw an intense will to live. I will so strong that he was sure that nothing could break it. He knew it was futile to fight against this vortex, and he knew that it was only a matter of time before Toph's strength gave out, or the handlebar she made breaks. It truly was hopeless. But yet, he felt as though the darkness wouldn't hurt them, just send them somewhere else entirely. He didn't know how to explain it. It was more like a feeling in his gut that he couldn't ignore. But he was worried about what type of place he would be sent to. He didn't know whether that place would be safe or not. And he knew that he wasn't strong enough to take care of and protect Celia on his own. So it was then that Aeros came to a decision that would set forward a chain of events that would threaten the very existence of all of the worlds.

"Ignis!" the brunet called, catching his friend's attention.

"What is it?" the redhead asked in confusion as he looked at his friend.

"I'm going to let go." he said as he looked sadly at his younger brother in all but name and blood.

"WHAT?!" both Ignis and Toph shouted in disbelief.

"I'll be okay. I'm not the leader for nothing." Aeros said reassuringly, though it didn't alleviate the shock and disbelief his friends were feeling.

"No way! We're not letting you do that!" Ignis said as he tightened his grip on his best friend's wrist.

"I'm sorry, but there's no telling what could happen after this! And I need someone who could keep Celia safe for me!" the boy said as he stared into Ignis' bright emerald green eyes.

"What are you talking about?!" the redhead asked in disbelief.

"I'm not strong enough to protect her, and you're the only other person that I can trust with her safety! So please promise me that you'll protect her while I'm gone!" he said pleadingly. There really was no one else he could trust more than Ignis and that included himself.

"We can protect her together!" the redhead argued in an attempt to change his friend's mind.

"And put the rest of you in danger? That's the last thing I want. Please Ignis, let me go. We'll see each other again one day. I promise." the young Keyblade wielder said pleadingly.

Ignis stared into his best friend's azure eyes for a minute before sighing resignedly. He nodded in agreement and Aeros smiled appreciatively. "You better not die before we meet up again!" he threatened as tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

"I don't intend to." the brunet said with a small smile. "And don't cry. It makes you look like a cry baby." he said teasingly.

"I do not!" Ignis said as he blushed in embarrassment.

Aeros chuckled at his friend's behavior before turning his gaze to his unconscious blue haired sister, who was wrapped securely in his right arm. He saddened at the thought of being away from her, but it was for the best. He knew for a fact that she would start crying the moment she realized that he was gone and probably wouldn't stop until he came back to her. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that had happened. He looked back to Ignis. "Take care of her." he said, bestowing all of his trust in his best friend.

Ignis gave a solemn nod as he looked his friend in the eye with pure conviction.

"Thanks." he said thankfully before maneuvering so Ignis could grab Celia. But to his surprise, Terra reached out and pulled her out of his grasp, since Ignis had his left arm wrapped around the Esperkin's waist, her arms were totally free.

Terra had watched the exchange with a mix of curiosity and confusion. She had vaguely recognized the brown haired boy as a friend but when she saw him trying to give the blue haired girl to her mate, full recognition hit her like a ton of bricks. She immediately pulled the girl she had recognized as her closest and dearest friend out of the brown haired boy's grasp and held her tightly against her so that the wind didn't carry her away.

Aeros was a little shocked, if not thankful that Terra had recognized his sister and took her. "Thank you Terra." he said, though it didn't look like she had even heard him. Her attention was completely on the blue haired girl wrapped securely in her arms. The boy then turned his attention to his mother and met her gaze. He saw the level of worry and fear she felt in her eyes and gave her a small apologetic smile. "Let go." he mouthed at her, causing her eyes to widen in shock and disbelief. "Trust me." he said before she could utter any sort of argument, unknowingly using the very last words his father had told his mother when she had last seen him alive.

Samantha was conflicted. She knew that she would be sucked up by the vortex eventually, but the way her son looked at her told her that everything was going to be alright. The only other person to have ever made her feel this way was her late husband. The woman gave a nod to her son as a sign that she trusted him, and with a shaky sigh, she released her hold on the root.

As she was pulled up into the darkness above, she saw the children, save Aeros, watch her in shock. "Be careful." she mouthed to them just before she disappeared into the darkness.

"Ignis, get stronger, okay? I don't want Celia to get hurt." Aeros said as he looked his best friend in the eye.

"You too." Ignis said solemnly.

"See you later." said the brunet.

"Yeah... See ya." the redhead replied sadly.

And with a final nod to each other, both boys let each other go, and Aeros quickly disappeared into the darkness.

Ignis felt a pang of pain strike his heart at seeing his best friend vanishing and pulled both Celia and Terra closer to him. He will make good on his promise. Come hell or high water, he will protect Celia with his life.

"Ugh, Ignis! I'm starting to lose my grip!" Toph said as her strength finally began to fade.

"Toph, I want you to let go of the ground!" Ignis said as he looked back to the blind girl.

"What?! Not you too?!" she said in disbelief. Was everybody losing their minds today?

"Trust me, we're going to be just fine!" he said reassuringly.

"How are you so sure?!" she said skeptically.

"I just have this feeling. And you always told me to listen to my gut! And right now, it's telling me to let go!" he said sounding completely sure of himself.

Toph growled in annoyance. "You better be right about this!" she shouted back at the boy. She took a deep breath and let go of her hold on the ground. She screamed in a surprisingly fearful way as she suddenly wrapped her arms around Ignis from behind.

Ignis, Terra, and Toph closed their eyes as the darkness fully engulfed them. Just before he passed out, Ignis heard the mysterious voice from his dream speak to him.

**Don't be afraid.**

**In a time both far off and near, you will once again face the very darkness that destroyed your home and face your greatest destiny.**

**So don't forget.**

**Protect what is precious to you and grow stronger.**

**For you are one of three who will open the door.**

And with that, a grand adventure begins.

* * *

The scene faded back in to reveal a starry night sky.

"The stars look so pretty tonight." said a young female voice.

The scene then transitions to an overhead shot of a grassy meadow with four children lying on the ground, watching the stars.

One of the four children was a girl around the age of twelve with long waist-length blonde hair that was held back by two blue ribbons, one of which tied back a small braid, and a pair of bangs that framed her face, as well as a pair of deep blue eyes. all she wore a long floor-length white dress. This girl's name was Aria Benett.

"You say that every time you see them Sara." Aria said with a giggle.

Sara was a lovely looking girl around the age of thirteen with long blonde, waist-length blond hair and blue eyes, and it appeared that she was an early bloomer since it appeared that she had already grown her breasts. She wore a long blue tunic that was almost considered a short dress in terms of length, a pair of white pants, and blue flats. Her full name was Sara Altney.

"Well I can't help but point it out every time I see them." Sara replied as she looked to her fellow blonde. "Don't you agree Ingus? The stars look absolutely lovely this evening." she said as she look to her other friend and batted her eyelashes cutely.

Her other friend, Ingus, was the only boy in the group. He was around eleven years of age and he had short blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore heavy armor and chain mail on his arms and legs, over which he wears a white shirt with puffed sleeves and a wide collar, and a red gambeson over that, as well as a green pendant.

The boy blushed. "Um, yes, they do Lady Sara." he said quickly looking back up at the sky so as not to stare into the eyes of his crush too long, lest he gets lost in them.

"You know that Ingus would agree to whatever you say Sara!" Aria said as she pouted in a sort of cute manner.

"Aria, please don't start this argument again." said the voice of another young girl.

The three blondes looked to the voices owner with slightly apologetic looks on their faces.

"Sorry." said Aria.

"It's alright." replied the voice's owner.

The owner of the voice was a lovely girl around the age of thirteen and was surprisingly more well-endowed that Sara. She had short jaw-length silver hair and, bangs that reach her collar bones frame her face. She had the most amazing eyes one could ever see. They were a rich cyan color and had the most uniquely shaped pupils; they were slits, much like that of a cat's. She wore a simple knee-length white dress with a cyan ribbon tied around decoratively at the waist, a pair of black biker shorts, and a simple pair of light blue sandals. She was very beautiful despite her young age. The fact that some men stare lecherously at her when they see her, gives further evidence to this.

The four children had settled into a comfortable silence as they returned to their star gazing.

Suddenly, Sara noticed something odd was going on with one of the stars.

"Look at that star! I think it's about to go out!" she said as she pointed to the star in the sky.

One of the brightest stars in the sky began to flicker in and out sporadically before finally fading out of existence.

"Oh! Why do I feel so much sadness all of a sudden?" Aria said sadly as she placed a hand on her heart.

"I can feel it too. It's because the planet is mourning the loss of one of its friends in the sky." the silver haired girl sad feeling the same kind of sadness.

"Why do you think we have the ability know what the planet is feeling?" Aria asked as she looked at the silvernette.

"I don't know Aria..." the girl said as the scene cut to black. "I just don't know?" she said and all was quiet.

**End of ch****apter three...**

* * *

**Authors Note**

**Play Historia Crux**

Hazama: That was a good warm up. *Looks at the seven Princesses of Heart who were huddled together in fear in a corner of room.* I'll see you ladies later. *He tips his hat politely and walks out the door.*

Titano Man XIII: I'm glad that's over. *Looks at the unconscious and horribly beaten forms of the entire playable cast of BlazBlue* This is going to be one hell of a mess to clean up. Oh, well. This had to have been my longest chapter yet. But I gotta say, I'm pleased by how it turned out. I nearly cried when I wrote the scene where everyone was getting sucked up into the darkness. I guess it was because I was listening to one of the saddest tacks in Kingdom Hearts history. Tears of the Light. It made it seem a lot more tragic when I listened to it while writing, at least... in my opinion. It was especially sad for me having to tear Kharg and Paulette apart right after they became a couple. Give me a moment... *blows nose*. But on the plus side, I got to introduce some new characters in here. How many of you were actually expecting Vergil and Hazama to show up during the Heartless attack? To be honest, Hazama was a completely spur of the moment decision! I had originally only intended on having just Vergil appear in this chapter and be the worlds end boss. But it all worked out in the end I suppose. so please give me tons of reviews on this chapter. It's not that hard. All you have to do is click that little button at the bottom of the screen and write about what you thought about my story. It's not that hard at all. I would really appreciate it if you do. And if I get ten our more reviews then I'll post the next chapter sooner! Doesn't that sound great?! Oh and one last thing. Did you guys like the inclusion of the cinematic action function from Final Fantasy XIII-2? If you did then I'll include it in future chapters. But only for end world bosses, special battles, and optional bosses. And if not then I will simply cut it out completely. I want your honest opinions. The button commands for the Cinematic Action were toggle right, X, and X.

Ragna the Bloodedge: *Recovers from beating* What the hell man?! I thought you said that I'd appear in this chapter.

Titano Man XIII: I recall saying no such thing.

Ragna: *Angrily* Cut the crap! *Threateningly* I better appear in the next chapter or else you're dead.

Titano Man XIII: I see... Well, if that is how you feel Mr. the Bloodedge, then I suggest that you take it up with my attorney.

Ragna: Oh, yeah? And who would that be?

A giant shadow appears from behind Ragna.

He turns around and sees Godzilla wearing a suit (no pants of course), a pair of glasses, and carrying a briefcase.

Ragna: *Girly scream* that's your lawyer?!

Titano Man XIII: *Smiles evilly* Yes. And if all of you would like to discuss the terms of our contract, then he will be more than happy to oblige.

Godzilla: Roooaaarrr!

Titano Man XIII: *Still smiling evilly* any objections?

Every non-original character that appears in this story shakes their heads in fear as they gazed upon the gargantuan super lizard.

Titano Man XIII: *Happily* Good! *Looks at news regarding the next chapter.* Okay, some good news and some bad news. The good news is, I have the next chapter already done. The bad news is, I have yet to type it up so it'll probably be a while before I can post it. But the upside is that it's completely original! The down side is that it's mostly filler since it takes place before and during the Heartless attack. With only the end advancing the story somewhat. But hey! That shouldn't be a reason not to read it! Anyways, chapter four is the start of the World of Gaia arc and that's when the other major characters start appearing.

Everyone: Yay!

Titano Man XIII: But not all of them are that important.

Everyone: Boo!

Titano Man XIII: The only characters that I'm really itching to unveil are one of my star Original Characters!

A spotlight shines down onto a figure and it reveals them to be the silver haired girl from the end of this chapter.

Mystery OC: Um, can I tell them my name now?

Titano Man XIII: No, now hush child. *Ahem* Now that we have all of that out of the way, I'm open to suggestions on how to improve the story for your entertainment. I will acknowledge criticism but I will not tolerate Flames. If I receive one, then I will dismantle it in front of everyone. And please check out my profile page and check out the poll I started. You can Vote up to six times and each choice will let me know whose more likely to be in the harem. And if you have any girls in mind from Final Fantasy, Nintendo, anime, or another place, then give me the information about her and I might include her. But the limit is ten-thirteen girls in the harem (I know, that's a lot.) and they have to be human or close enough to human that it doesn't seem weird. And the age gap can be no bigger than two to three years younger/older than Ignis. So with that the Forests of Serenity arc comes to a close. Please be on the lookout for the next installment of Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts! I bid you, my loyal readers, goodbye.

V-13/Nu-13: Like, see you later and stuff!


	5. Chapter 4: The world of Gaia

Titano Man XIII: Hello lost lambs. I have returned with the next installment of Dark Destiny Kingdom Hearts!

Everyone: Yay!

Titano Man XIII: I'm not happy.

Kairi: Why?

Titano Man XIII: No one has given me a single review since I posted the first chapter!

Riku: What about the prologue?

Titano Man XIII: I only got two for that one.

Riku: Oh.

Titano Man XIII: Anyways, let's get back on track. This chapter marks the beginning of the world of Gaia arc. So I must let you know now that the events of this chapter and the next chapter of this story happen a year before the events of Final Fantasy VII and since Cloud, Tifa, Aerith, Yuffie, and Cid are in Traverse Town at the moment, or in the case of Cloud and Tifa, somewhere else, I'll have no choice but to replace them with other people.

Sora: Why can't you just bring them here and then put them back?

Titano Man XIII: Because Sora, that would make the timeline way too tight to work effectively in this story since I also plan to use the events of Advent Children in this story as well. It might work for Cloud and Tifa since nobody knew where they ended up after Radiant Garden fell, but it'll be tricky. Everybody else? Impossible! And did you forget that Aerith dies in VII?

Sora: Oh, yeah I forgot about that.

Aerith Gainsborough: I... die...? *Faints*

Titano Man XIII: See! Look at what you made me do!

Sora: Sorry.

Titano Man XIII: *Sigh* Anyways, as for who is replacing which character, well here's who they are.

First and foremost Aerith Gainsborough, both character and battle wise, will be replaced by not one, but two OCs. Twin sisters to be exact.

A spotlight shines down on the two OCs showing them to be the silver-haired girl from the end of the last chapter and a girl who looked exactly like her but with longer hair drawn into a braid that was held up by a cyan ribbon and a white and cyan palette swap of Aerith's Final Fantasy VII outfit. Description of said outfit will come later.

Titano Man XIII: To make it easier to visualize, both OCs have the same face as Aerith. And the same type of eyes as Sephiroth, but are of a cyan coloration. Their names will be revealed later in this chapter.

Character wise Cid Highwind will be replaced by Kokonoe. Battle wise he will be replaced by Λ-11**/**Lambda-11

Character and battle wise Yuffie Kisaragi will be replaced by an OC with a similar personality and attire, albeit a red and pink palette swap of her Advent Children attire.

Zack Fair _will _be alive in this story and will fight alongside Cloud.

This story's version of the Kingdom Hearts version of Cid Highwind will be played by Dante (Devil May Cry)

The Leon of this story will be Ragna the Bloodedge.

Titano Man XIII: And that's just the start of it. More will be explained at the end of the chapter. So, Nu-13, please do the honors and give the disclaimer.

V-13/Nu-13: Okay! Like, Titano Man XIII, doesn't own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, Or like, any of the following anime and video games: Naruto, Bleach, Rosario+Vampire, Soul Eater, Avatar the Last Airbender, 8 Bit Theater Chaos, The Legend of Spyro/Skylanders: Spyro's adventure, Sonic Colors, SoulCalibur V, Devil May Cry 1, 2, 3, or 4, Arc the lad: Twilight of the Spirits, Panzer Dragoon: Orta, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as well as anything else he decides to like, put into this story. But all the original characters in this story like, belong to him and stuff.

Titano Man XIII: Thank you. and before I forget... this chapter takes place before and during the events of last chapter before it catches up with the rest of the story. NOW ON WITH THE SHOW!

* * *

**Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts**

**Chapter 4: The World of Gaia**

"_I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain."_

―James Baldwin, _The fire Next Time._

"_An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind."_

―Mahatma Ghandi.

* * *

Celia Zoromaki: Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts, the story so far...

**Play Theme Track of Battles**

(The scene phases in through the static.)

"I've come to see the door to this world." replied the man.

"Huh?" Ignis asked in confusion.

"This world has been connected." said the cloaked person.

(Spike of static)

"Tied to the darkness..." the man continued as if he didn't hear Ignis. "Soon to be completely eclipsed." finished the mysterious person.

(Spike of static)

"There is so very much to learn. You understand so little." said the man.

"Oh, yeah? Well, you'll see. I'm gonna get out and learn what's out there!" the boy said with conviction.

"A meaningless effort." the man said dismissively. "One who knows nothing can understand nothing." he said as if it was fact.

Ignis looked at the mysterious door next to him for a moment before looking back to where the man was, only to see the he was gone.

(Static)

Within moments Aeros and Ignis had reached the shore.

"Angela! Where are the others? I thought they were with you!" Ignis said as he shielded his face from the fierce winds.

"The door has opened..." both Angela and Darc said as if they were in a trance.

"What?" Aeros asked in confusion.

(Spike of static)

Aeros noted that there was something off about his younger sister. It was as if she wasn't being herself.

"Once we step through, we might not be able to come back. We may never see our parents again. There's no turning back." she said with the utmost conviction. "But this may be our only chance. We can't let fear stop us! I'm not afraid of the darkness!" she said with utmost sincerity.

Angela extended her hand out as if inviting the boys to join in. Her eyes were pleading them to came along, to not abandon her.

"Angela..." Aeros said softly.

But before either Aeros or Ignis could do anything a pool of darkness opened up beneath both Darc's and Angela's feet. Tendrils of darkness crawled up their bodies, attempting to swallow them and anyone near them. But neither Darc, nor Angela, resisted.

"Angela!" Ignis said in alarm as he reached out to grab the girl's outstretched hand and pull her out of the swarming mass of dark energy.

"No!" Aeros said frozen in fear at what was transpiring before him.

Just as the redhead was about to grab the younger girl's hand, he felt the dark tendrils grab onto him and crawl up his body, attempting to devour him as well. All he could do was reach for Angela's hand, even as the darkness fully engulfed him.

"Ignis!" Aeros shouted in fear.

Ignis saw nothing but darkness. Pitch blackness that stretched on into eternity. How long was he in there? A minute...? A day...? A year...? He wasn't sure. But then there was a bright light. and it chased away the darkness.

The next thing he knew, Ignis was standing on the shore of the lake again. But Angela, Darc, nor Delma were in sight.

"Ignis, you're all right!" Aeros said in relief as he ran up to his friend. "What's that?" he asked, referring to the odd object in the redhead's hand.

Ignis looked at the object in his hand and saw that it was an odd sword that resembles a skeleton key in its overall shape. It had a green handle and a rectangular, black guard with long spikes on each of its corners. The long shaft was silver and had concave edges, and ended in a spike resembling those on the Nobody symbol. The silver teeth were shaped like a large arrowhead. The blade had a key chain hooked onto the end of it. And the Keychain token was a diamond resembling the weapon's teeth. The weapon's name was True Lights Flight.

**Keyblade...**

**Keyblade...**

"A Keyblade?" the boy said in confusion.

(Static)

The party entered the Crystal Cave, which, luckily, was big enough to hold all of them.

Standing in the middle of the chamber, staring at the mysterious wooden door, was Lilia.

"Lilia!" both Ignis and Kharg shouted as they entered the room causing the girl to turn around.

"Thank goodness! You're all okay!" she said with relief in her voice. "I was afraid that the monsters that man had told me about might have hurt you." she said thankfully.

"Wait, what man?" Aeros asked in suspicion.

"I believe she is referring to me." a mysterious man said as he stepped out of the shadow of one of the giant root pillars at the back of the cave next to the door.

(Spike of static)

The man had short swept back white hair and blue eyes. He wore a blue long coat with three tails and a snake-like pattern on the right side of the jacket. Under that her wore a dark blue vest, dark pants, and long brown boots. Held in his left hand was a katana with an ornate bronze oval-shaped guard, a tsuka-ito that seemed to be braided from white and black material, and a black scabbard, made of traditional lacquered wood, and features several metallic ornaments on its far end. It also features a yellow sageo, the cord used to tie the katana to the waist. This was Vergil. The eldest son of the great demon knight Sparda.

"Who are you?" Aeros asked in a hostile tone.

"That is of no importance." the man said with a scoff. "I am to retrieve that girl before this world is plunged into darkness." the man said as he pointed at Lilia.

"What do you want Lilia for?" Ignis asked as he, Aeros and Kharg stepped in between him and the young brunette.

Ignis got into his battle stance and Kharg pulled out his sword and got into his stance. Aeros not wanting to just sit back and watch pulled out his wooden sword and got into a battle stance.

(Spike of static)

Vergil scoffed. "You wish to fight? You are nothing more than children with fancy toys. Allow me to show you your place." he said as he drew his blade Yamato.

(Static)

The scene shows bits and pieces of the battle through the static.

(Static)

The half demon swordsman then looked at the last few obstacles in his way.

Aeros stood in front of him while trying to look threatening with his wooden sword.

Behind the boy Terra stood shaking uncontrollably with fear.

Behind Terra was Celia and Lilia, both of them cowering in fear.

"I'll ask you only once, give me the girl and I'll spare all of your lives." he said as he pointed his sword at Aeros.

"No way! I'd rather die than let you take one of my friends away!" Aeros growled out with pure conviction.

"As you wish." the man said coldly.

Vergil quickly sped forward and punched Aeros very hard into his stomach, knocking the wind out of him and making him drop his wooden sword.

(Spike of static)

The blue clad swordsman turned to the violently coughing Aeros and raised his blade.

"Farewell... human." the white-haired man muttered just before he brought down his hair.

"Aeros!" Ignis shouted in horror after finally regaining his senses.

"No!" Samantha shouted in fear as she tried to reach for her son.

Time seemed to slow down as Vergil's blade arched downwards towards its target, but something happened that shocked everyone that was still conscious, including the son of Sparda.

Faster than any one could perceive, Celia had jumped in front of the attack and acted as a human shield, taking all the damage in his place.

(Spike of static)

Aeros looked on in a mixture of shock and horror as his adopted sister stood in front of him with her arms outstretched to the sides.

"I won't... let you... hurt my... big brother..." she said weakly just before a torrent of blood erupted from her chest. She then lost consciousness and began to fall.

Aeros was able recover just in time to catch his sister before she had hit the ground.

"Celia!" he shouted in fear.

"She had sacrificed herself to prolong your life, even if it was only for a moment. There truly aren't that many humans that are as selfless as her." the swordsman said as he once again lifted his blade.

'_Why?_' Aeros thought as he stared at his sister. Time seemed to slow down once again as his mind raced a mile a minute. '_Why can't I protect anyone? Ignis... Terra... Luneth... Refia... Arc... Toph... mom... Angela... Celia... I couldn't protect any of them!_' he thought as he closed his eyes in shame and self-loathing. '_I've been nothing but useless throughout this whole ordeal! Why did they make me the leader? A leader is supposed to protect those he lead, right? But I can't! I'm useless. Maybe I should just die and save everyone the trouble._' he thought as he tightened his grip on Celia. '_No! I'm not a burden! Everyone trusts me because they know that I will always come through for them!_' as if a dam had broken, a great power began surging through him. '_I _can _protect everyone! I won't let anyone get hurt again! Not while I have the power to do something about it! No matter what! I won't have people like Celia get hurt or be put in harm's way as long as I'm still alive!_' he thought with firm resolution as time began to move at a normal pace again.

Vergil suddenly leapt back as a torrent of darkness came out Aeros' body.

(Spike of static)

Aeros stood up with his sister cradled in his arms. He walked over to a nearby wall and sat her against it.

"I promise Celia, _no one_ is ever going to hurt you, ever again." the boy said as he brushed some of the girl's blue-gray hair away from her face.

Aeros stood back up and looked at Vergil. There was strength in his eyes. Strength that none of his friends, nor his mother, had ever seen before.

"I'm only going to tell you this once. Leave now, or face the consequences!" he said as he threw his right arm out to his side.

The dark energy suddenly flared and began moving to his outstretched hand. Darkness swirled around the limb as it began to condense and take shape.

To everyone's shock the darkness had transformed into a Keyblade. The Keyblade's shaft had a deep-grey edge which curves in at intervals, the inside fading from dark red to black from its base, which has several angled lines pointing toward the guard as the center bears a bright red line, stretching to the tip as it leads to an equally red rune marking. The teeth were axe-like, with the same coloration as the top of the shaft, an angled piece and several lines cut out, giving the illusion of teeth. The guard is a dark steel-blue and has a hexagonal shape with many semicircles imprinted around it. The hilt is plain black. The Keychain bears a strong resemblance to the one on a certain dark Keyblade master's blade. This Keyblade's name was Darkgnaw.

"So what's it going to be?" the boy said as he took his battle stance.

(Static)

"Well, this sure is a fine load of shit that you've gotten yourself into Vergil. I ask you to do one thing and you manage to screw that up! Oh well, we learned a bit from watching you fight these brats, so it's not all that bad." the mystery man said from within the shadows of the tunnel that led into the cave. Thrown over his shoulder was an unconscious Lilia.

"Hazama." Vergil said as the man stepped into the light.

Hazama's appearance was taken after the shady, creepy archetype. He had bright green hair and an ever-present smile with his eyes closed, belaying a demonic nature. He wore a simple black suit with a white shirt underneath, short brown gloves, and brown steel-toed shoes. He donned a pair of black trousers held up by two brown belts. He completed the outfit with a black fedora hat to close the shady visage.

(Static)

"Who are you?" Aeros said with hostility as he pointed his Keyblade at the shady person.

"Oh, how rude of me not to introduce myself!" the man replied in embarrassment. "I am Hazama from the Novus Orbis Librarium's intelligence department." he said as he took off his hat with his free hand and bowed the best he could without letting Lilia fall off from his shoulder. "I think my rank is uh, captain?" he said with an unsure look on his face. "Oh well, that's not going to matter in the next few seconds." the man said with a snake-like smile.

"What do you mean?" Samantha said after healing her injury.

"Weren't you paying attention at all?" the man asked in a way that suggested that he was talking to an idiot. "This whole world is about to go bye-bye." he said, his grin never-fading.

"What?!" Ignis said in shock.

"What? Did I mumble?" he asked rhetorically as he cupped his ear. "This whole world is being devoured by the Heartless and everyone and everything on it will either get lost in darkness, or die. Simple as that." the green haired man said with a casual shrug.

"Are... Are you the cause of all of this madness?!" Samantha asked angry at the man's calm dismissal of her home's destruction.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not." the man said with sick smile. "It's not really going to matter in a couple of seconds, but hey I'm feeling generous." he said as a portal made of dark energy appeared behind him as he crack open his eyes, revealing them to be a bright golden color with snake-like pupils, which glowed demonically from under the shadow cast by his hat. "I left a little friend outside for you kids to play with, you'll like him, and he's a real _killer_!" he said before bursting into maniacal laughter. "It's been fun, but my white-haired friend here, and I have to go. Bye." Hazama said before he and Vergil entered the dark portal.

"Oh, no you don't!" Ignis shouted as he dashed after them he attempted to jump through the portal after them, but said portal disappeared before he could even touch it.

(Static)

Ignis looked around and spotted Celia lying unconscious on the ground on the other side of the small island.

"Celia!" he shouted as he began to run to the girl but he quickly stopped when a giant fist nearly crushed him. "Whoa!" he said in alarm as he jumped back just as the attack hit the ground.

Ignis followed the fist until his eyes landed on the creature that was connected to it.

He saw a massive, muscular, humanoid Heartless with black skin. Its legs were rather short and its feet were very thin and curled up. Its arms were quite long, and it had two relatively small, twisted wings on its back. There was a large, heart-shaped hole in the Heartless's abdominal area, which penetrates straight through from the front to the back. Its head was covered in dozens of twisted, black tentacles. Only its small, glowing yellow eyes were visible. This creature was a Darkside. A powerful Heartless from the Realm of Darkness.

(Static spike)

"What is that thing?!" Paulette shouted in fear. She had seen plenty of giants before, but never one that looked like this.

"It must be the "friend" that the creep back there was talking about." Aeros said as he got into a battle stance.

(Static spike)

Bits and pieces of the battle were seen through the static.

(Static)

The Darkside launched a powerful punch for Ignis. The boy was able to block the attack, but it sent him tumbling backwards. He stopped with a grimace. He looked back up to see the Heartless aim another punch at him.

"Ignis look out!" Terra shouted as she shielded him from the attack.

"Terra no!" the redhead shouted in fear as he watched his friend step in front of him.

But what happened next shocked everyone that had seen it.

The green haired girl had caught the attack with her bare hands!

"I won't... let you... hurt the man I love!" She said in exertion as power literally arched off of her like electricity.

And in a sudden flash of light, Terra Branford had gone through a transformation. The first thing Ignis noticed was that Terra was now completely naked. Her hair was no longer tied into a ponytail, it now was long and wild and reached her rear, and her body and hair were vivid lavender with yellow claws on her hands and feet, while her face was a paler shade, almost white, and she had bright red lips and red lining around her eyes, giving her a more savage yet elegant appearance. Her lips were pulled back into a snarl, exposing a pair of sharpened canines. All in all, the girl looked very intimidating, despite her young age.

With a mighty roar Terra pushed the Darkside's fist back, enough to stagger it.

(Static)

Toph went into action the moment the vibrations from the attack had reached her. With a strong shift in stance, and a sharp raise of her hands, long spikes of rock had pierced its hand and wrist. Working quickly she created a series of restraints to keep the monster further in place.

As soon as the blind girl was done, Aeros immediately ran up the Darkside's arm.

The Heartless noticed him and tried to swat the boy away like a fly.

Time seemed to slow down quickly as the appendage moved towards the brunet. With lightning fast reflexes, Aeros jumped onto the incoming arm and ran up the limb to stab the beast in its left eye.

The giant released a pained roar as Aeros' Keyblade pierced its eye. But the boy's blade was too short to cause any fatal damage to the beast. Aeros cursed that his weapon was too short to slay the beast as he pulled it out. The giant groaned as it covered its now empty socket with its free hand.

But luckily Ignis acted quickly, and ran up its bound arm while it was distracted.

"Hey ugly!" he shouted at the Heartless. "Take this!" the boy slashed at the creature's face just as it removed its hand from view. The slash caused a critical amount of damage, finally defeating the Heartless.

(Static)

The red-head jumped off as the creature lumbered backwards, its arm breaking out of the restraints.

It continued to stagger back until it reached the edge of the island. The ground suddenly crumbled beneath its feet, unable to hold its weight, that and Toph had weakened the earth's density from afar. The creature disappeared into the dark depths below.

(Static)

Ignis then noticed that the wind was starting to blow harder.

"Hey! Is it me or is the wind starting to blow harder?!" Refia asked as she shielded her face from the increasingly heavy winds.

"It's not just you! We can all feel it!" Aeros said he shielded his own face from the wind.

The wind suddenly increased in force until it was like a vacuum, sucking everything up into the dark swirling vortex above them.

Everyone hung on to whatever they could as best they could.

(Static)

It was then that Aeros realized that nothing was keeping Celia from being sucked up by the vortex.

The boy looked to where his sister was only to see her being dragged across the ground towards the center of the small island, where Ignis, Terra, and Toph were, by the wind.

"Celia!" he shouted as the wind started to pick her up.

Acting quickly, the boy was able to put both of his feet on the ground and get into a pouncing position. He launched himself forward, using the wind to boost his speed.

Somehow he was able to reach his adopted sister, despite the hurricane force winds, and grab Ignis' outstretched hand before he got too far to reach.

"Hang on!" he said as he held his best friend's hand tightly.

(Static)

The scene crackled as it showed everyone being swept up by the darkness one by one.

(Static)

"Ignis!" the brunet called, catching his friend's attention.

"What is it?" the redhead asked in confusion as he looked at his friend.

"I'm going to let go." he said as he looked sadly at his younger brother in all but name and blood.

"WHAT?!" both Ignis and Toph shouted in disbelief.

"I'll be okay. I'm not the leader for nothing." Aeros said reassuringly, though it didn't reduce the shock and disbelief his friends were feeling.

"No way! We're not letting you do that!" Ignis said as he tightened his grip on his best friend's wrist.

"I'm sorry, but there's no telling what could happen after this! And I need someone who could keep Celia safe for me!" the boy said as he stared into Ignis' bright emerald green eyes.

"What're you talking about?!" the redhead asked in disbelief.

"I'm not strong enough to protect her, and you're the only other person that I can trust with her safety! So please promise me that you'll protect her while I'm gone!" he said pleadingly. There really was no one else he could trust more than Ignis and that included himself.

"We can protect her together!" the redhead argued in an attempt to change his friend's mind.

"And put the rest of you in danger? That's the last thing I want. Please Ignis, let me go. We'll see each other again one day. I promise." the young Keyblade wielder said pleadingly.

Ignis stared into his best friend's azure eyes for a minute before sighing resignedly. He nodded in agreement and Aeros smiled appreciatively. "You better not die before we meet up again!" he threatened as tears threatened to spill from his eyes.

"I don't intend to." the brunet said with a small smile. "And don't cry. It makes you look like a cry baby." he said teasingly.

"I do not!" Ignis said as he blushed in embarrassment.

Aeros chuckled at his friend's behavior before turning his gaze to his unconscious blue haired sister, who was wrapped securely in his right arm. He saddened at the thought of being away from her, but it was for the best. He knew for a fact that she would start crying the moment she realized that he was gone and probably wouldn't stop until he came back to her. It certainly wouldn't be the first time that had happened. He looked back to Ignis. "Take care of her." he said, bestowing all of his trust in his best friend.

Ignis gave a solemn nod as he looked his friend in the eye with pure conviction.

"Thanks." he said thankfully before maneuvering so Ignis could grab Celia. But to his surprise, Terra reached out and pulled her out of his grasp, since Ignis had his left arm wrapped around the Esperkin's waist, her arms were totally free.

(Static Spike)

"Ignis, get stronger, okay? I don't want Celia to get hurt." Aeros said as he looked his best friend in the eye.

"You too." Ignis said solemnly.

"See you later." said the brunet.

"Yeah... See ya." the redhead replied sadly.

And with a last nod to each other, both boys let each other go, and Aeros quickly disappeared into the darkness.

(Static Spike)

"Ugh, Ignis! I'm starting to lose my grip!" Toph said as her strength finally began to fade.

"Toph, I want you to let go of the ground!" Ignis said as he looked back to the blind girl.

"What?! Not you too?!" she said in disbelief. Was everybody losing their minds today?

"Trust me, we're going to be just fine!" he said reassuringly.

"How are you so sure?!" she said skeptically.

"I just have this feeling. And you always told me to listen to my gut! And now, it's telling me to let go!" he said sounding completely sure of himself.

Toph growled in annoyance. "You better be right about this!" she shouted back at the boy. She took a deep breath and let go of her hold on the ground. She screamed in a surprisingly fearful way as she suddenly wrapped her arms around Ignis from behind.

Ignis, Terra, and Toph closed their eyes as the darkness fully engulfed them.

(The scene fades into static before fading to black)

**End Theme**

* * *

**Play Theme Final Fantasy VII opening **_(Don't play bombing mission part)_

The scene opens to show a large coastal town. The town had a bright and sunny atmosphere and the streets were littered with decorations from the nightly festivals that happen here. The inhabitants of the town are as lively and energetic as the sun is bright. This cheery place was a famous resort town known as Costa del Sol.

The scene hovers over the town as a logo of a meteor streaking through the sky appeared on the screen before the word Gaia appeared in front of the logo in large letters.

As the logo faded, the scene then transitions to a small homey little hotel in the quieter part of town just outside of Costa del Sol proper.

Staying within the inn were four children. They were sleeping together in one of the rooms of the hotel.

Suddenly, a beam of sunlight peeked through the curtains that covered the window. The light slowly made its way across the room until it hit one of the sleeping children in the face, causing that child to crack open their eyes.

The child sat up and looked over their sleeping companions. The child shook the shoulder of the child sleeping next to them.

"Huh, What...?" The child said in a young female voice as they sat up.

The first child hushed her and the two slowly got out from under the thick quilt that kept them warm during the cold night without disturbing the other two children.

The two then quietly crept out of the house and made their way through the town. It was easy since most of the residents aren't awake this early in the morning.

* * *

**Play Theme A Secret, Sleeping in the Deep Sea**

Eventually the two children reached the beach that lied near the slums and breathed in the fresh sea air. The sun shone down onto the two, bringing their features to light.

The first child was a lovely looking girl around the age of thirteen and was very well endowed for her young age. She had lovely alabaster skin, short jaw-length silver hair with a pair of bangs that reached her collar bones and framed her face, and she had the most amazing eyes one could ever see. They were a rich cyan color and had the most uniquely shaped pupils, they were very much like a cat's. She wore a simple knee-length white dress with a cyan ribbon tied around decoratively at the waist, a pair of black biker shorts, and a simple pair of light blue sandals. She was very beautiful despite her young age. The fact that some men stare lecherously at her when they see her, gives further evidence to this.

The second child was also a girl. She was around the age of twelve with long waist-length blonde hair that was held back by two blue ribbons, one of which held a small braid, and a pair of bangs that framed her face, as well as a pair of deep blue eyes. all she wore a long floor-length white dress.

The second girl took a deep breath and stretched her limbs. "What a good day for a swim." she said with a smile.

"Yeah." the first girl said with a quiet sigh.

"Come on. Let's find a spot where no one will bother us." said the silver-haired girl.

"Right." replied the blonde.

The two girls moved to a small, private spot that was a small distance away from the main shore and after making sure that no one was around, did they begin to take off their clothes.

When they had finished undressing the two of them quickly dove into the water and began to swim further out to sea.

After swimming out a certain distance the two of them dove under the water. They swam to the very bottom and started digging through the sand.

After a minute the silver-haired girl pulled a conch shell out from the sand.

The two of them stared at the conch in awe until a hermit crab popped its head out of the shell.

Their eyes widened in surprise before a sheepish look came onto both of their features.

'_Sorry little guy._' the silver-haired girl thought as she set the crustacean back onto the seafloor.

The sea animal snapped its pincers at her before scuttling of to do whatever it is that hermit crabs do.

The blonde stifled a giggle.

* * *

The two girls continued their exploration of the underwater world they were visiting until a shadow streaked across the sand above them. They looked up but saw nothing that could have made the shadow. They looked at each other before shrugging and brushing it off as nothing more than a trick of the light.

The two continued their skinny dipping session, merely swimming about aimlessly, both of them wanting to explore as much as they could before they had to go back up to the surface for air.

As they swam under a small rock outcropping a shadow swam over them again and the two were able to glimpse what had looked like a tailfin as they looked up.

The silvernette and the blonde were now much more wary of their surroundings as they continued their explorations. They had been underwater for close to five minutes now and they both knew that they had to surface for air soon.

The two soon found themselves at a beautiful coral reef. Both of them were mesmerized by the many colors each piece of coral had and the sizes they had grown, some of the reefs were as big as cars! So entranced were the girls that they had failed to notice that they were surrounded by a large school of tropical fish.

The sea creatures swam right by the two without paying either of the girls any mind, all of them going about their own fishy business.

The blonde stifled a giggle at the little animals. She thought they were rather cute.

The silver-haired girl watched the fish swim by. She felt completely content with watching them swim about in random directions. She was completely relaxed until she saw a large sea creature swimming just outside of the school. In the back of her mind she worried that it was some sort of predator and that she and her friend were swimming in the middle of their feeding grounds.

She watched the animal swim around the school until she felt her friend tug at her arm. The silver-haired girl looked to the blonde and saw her gesture to a path that led further into the reef.

The girl nodded in agreement and the two swam off further into the reef, though the silvernette kept a close watch of their surroundings.

* * *

After a few minutes the two girls reached a clearing in the center of the reef.

They saw many beautiful reefs filled with a large assortment of fish colorful fish.

'_It's so pretty._' thought the blonde.

'_It's so peaceful here... Even the planet feels calm._' the silver haired girl thought as she closed her cat-like cyan eyes in content.

It truly was a sight to behold.

All was well until a shadow appeared on the sand and started circling them. The silvernette began to panic, thinking that a predator was going to attack them.

Both girls looked up and saw the animal circling around them. But before either girl could swim off, the sea creature dove down to them and revealed itself to be nothing more than a dolphin that simply wanted to play with them.

Their bodies shook with suppressed laughter at their own foolishness.

'_It was just a dolphin. I guess I get a little _too_ paranoid sometimes._' the older girl thought in amusement.

'_She's so beautiful. It's amazing what kind of life lives down here under the water._' the younger girl thought as she waved hello to the dolphin.

The girls then felt their chests starting to cramp and they knew that they had to surface.

They swam up with the dolphin swimming right behind them.

The two breached the water's surface and took huge gulps of air.

"I wish we could do this more often." the blonde said after she had stabilized her breathing.

"I know. But we need to keep moving. It was hard enough getting onto that ship back in Junon without getting noticed. We have to keep going if we want to reach our destination quickly enough." said the silver-haired girl.

"Kaya... Why are you so focused on doing this? Do you really think it wise to go against the ShinRa Corporation like this?" The blonde said with worry in her voice.

The now named Kaya sighed as she closed her eyes. When she had opened them again, they were solemn and filled with pain. "You know what they did to us Aria. They destroyed our home. They burned it to the ground and killed everyone. You, me, Ingus and Sara were lucky enough to get out of there with our lives. They'll pay for what they did to us!" she said with enough venom in her voice to kill a Behemoth.

The blonde, known as Aria Benett, looked at her friend in sadness. "Of course I do Kaya. It's just... It's just that I'm so worried about you!" she said as she hugged herself. Ever since those Shin-Ra soldiers had burned down the orphanage they lived in, her best friend, Kaya Argentum, had been filled with so much anger and hatred that the blonde couldn't help but worry almost constantly about her friend. Ever since that night, Kaya had been trying to take any kind of revenge she could against the tyrannical conglomerate. She was afraid that the silvernette won't stop until she either destroys Shin-Ra, or die trying.

Kaya's gaze softened and she embraced the girl she viewed as a younger sister. The two had met in the orphanage and had grown up together. Unlike her close bonds with Ingus and Sarah, she had an even deeper bond with Aria. It was something she couldn't explain. It was as if she had met a long lost member of her family. One who had the same ability as her, the ability to commune with the planet.

It's okay Aria. I'm sorry for causing you so much grief over the years." the silvernette said soothingly. She knew that her quest for revenge was hurting her friends. Even though they try to hide it, she could see how worried they were for her. The last thing she wanted was for them to get hurt. "I never asked you guys to come with me." she whispered into her friend's ear.

Aria then wrapped her arms around Kaya and returned the embrace. "But then you would have been all alone in the darkness. We don't want you to lose yourself. You mean too much to us Kaya." she said as she tightened her hold.

Kaya sighed tiredly. "I know." She was glad they came along with her. If they hadn't then she would have gone crazy with revenge.

The two remained like that until Kaya felt something poke her in the rear.

The silvernette jumped in surprise and looked back to see the dolphin chirping playfully at her.

Aria and Kaya looked at each other for a moment before bursting into laughter. They separated and took a deep breath before diving back below the water's surface. The two had then spent the next hour swimming and playing with the dolphin, surfacing every ten-to-fifteen minutes for air.

Too soon did the time come for them to go back to the shore.

* * *

"Sorry girl. We have to go back to the shore now. But it was fun playing with you." Kaya said as she pet the dolphin's back.

The aquatic mammal seemed to understand and clicked sadly.

"We want to keep playing too. But we have to get back before our friends start worrying about us." Aria said as she too pet the dolphin.

The dolphin made several clicking sounds before swimming around the girls a few times and stopping in between them.

"You want to give us a ride back to shore?" asked Kaya.

The aquatic mammal gave a chirp which the two took for a yes.

They both grabbed onto the animal and took deep breaths.

Within moments the dolphin was swimming through the water with Aria and Kaya hanging on for the entire ride.

**End Theme**

* * *

After a few minutes, the dolphin made it close enough to the shore that both Aria and Kaya could swim back on their own.

"Thank you Ms. Dolphin." Aria said in thanks.

"If we're ever in Costa del Sol again then we'll give you a call." Kaya said as she ran her hand along the dolphin's smooth skin.

The dolphin gave a chirp and swam off.

The girls waved good-bye before swimming back to shore.

* * *

**Play Theme Costa del Sol**

As it turned out, the dolphin had taken them to the main beach, so the girls were wary of any people. Luckily there wasn't anyone on the beach yet so it was safe to walk back to the private spot they had left their clothing at. The quickly made their way across the already scorching sands, watching for any people coming their way.

They reached their spot without any problems and dried themselves off with the towels they had brought along. After getting dressed, the two girls walked back to town.

When they reached town they saw that people were already starting to buzz through the streets.

"They weren't kidding when they said that Costa del Sol is the liveliest town in the world." Kaya said as she watched the people go about their business.

"I wouldn't really mind living here. It's such a nice place." Aria said as she breathed in the tropical air.

"I know what you mean. Maybe after everything is said and done we could come and live here." Kaya said with a smile. "But I can definitely live without the all-night parties." she said as music was heard coming from a nearby restaurant. She remembered how tired she and her friends were after their first night here.

"Yeah I agree." the blonde said in agreement as the two began laughing.

* * *

The two girls made their way to the hotel they were staying at and entered their room only to find Ingus and Sara still asleep in the bed. Sara was just so happening to be using Ingus' chest as a pillow.

The two girls giggled at the two sleeping children.

"Should you wake them up or should I?" Kaya asked in amusement.

"I think you should do it. I woke them up last time." Aria said as she stopped giggling.

"Alright, give me a second." the silvernette said as she quietly moved towards the sleeping couple. "Hey Ingus... Sara... Wake up." she said as she gently shook the two awake.

"Hmm... What...?" Ingus murmured as he awakened only for him to get an eyeful of Sara's cleavage causing the poor boy to blush a bright scarlet.

"What time is it?" Sara asked with a yawn.

"Around seven in the morning." replied Kaya.

"I see." she said before noticing that she was still somewhat lying on top of Ingus and the boy was blushing like crazy. "Oh, Ingus! Your face is all red! You aren't coming down with anything are you?" the girl asked in concern as she placed the back of her hand against his forehead causing his blush to darken.

"I-I'm fine Sara. There's no need to worry over me." the boy said as he looked into Sara's lovely blue eyes.

"Are you sure? I don't want you to get hurt while we're on the road." the blonde said as concern shined in her eyes.

"I assure you. There's nothing wrong with me." the young blond boy said as he gently pushed the girl off of him.

Kaya then started giggling at the scene which drew confused looks from the two. "Okay you two love birds. Start getting ready. We have to leave soon." she said as she began packing for the trip ahead.

The two blondes blushed at the comment and began getting ready.

**End Theme**

* * *

A few minutes later everyone was packed and ready to go.

Sara was a lovely looking girl around the age of thirteen with long blonde, waist-length blond hair and blue eyes, and it appeared that she was an early bloomer since it appeared that she had already grown in her breasts. She wore a long blue tunic that was almost considered a short dress in terms of length, a pair of white pants, and blue flats. Her full name was Sara Altney.

The boy, Ingus, was the only boy in the group. He was around eleven years of age and he had short blonde hair and blue eyes. He wore heavy armor and chain mail on his arms and legs, over which he wears a white shirt with puffed sleeves and a wide collar, and a red gambeson over that, as well as a green pendant.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Kaya asked as she looked at her only friends in the world.

The three blondes nodded and the group left the hotel and a few minutes later were out-of-town.

* * *

**Play Main Theme of Final Fantasy VII**

"So where _are_ we going Kaya?" Sara asked while looking at her silver-haired companion as the party made their way to the south-west of Costa del Sol.

"I told you. You'll know when we get there." Kaya said as she walked down the trail that led the place known as Mt. Corel.

Nothing more was said about the subject as the party of four continued their trek towards the mountain.

Less than a week after leaving Costa del Sol and traversing over the many mountain passes of Mt. Corel, the children reached a small, newly formed settlement known as North Corel, which was situated at the base of the mountain. They learned that the townspeople were the survivors of Old Corel, a town that had been destroyed by the Shin-Ra Electric Power Company. Upon hearing this, Kaya's hatred for the tyrannical company grew even stronger. After the children had rested and resupplied for the journey as well as spent a day having fun in the world renowned amusement park the Gold Saucer, they left North Corel and traveled south towards Cosmo Canyon.

They soon reached the village that was located in the canyon after a couple of weeks thanks to a small flock of wild Chocobo which they had tamed to ride them.

After a few days of rest and cultural experience, the party of four left the village. Though before leaving, Kaya had learned that the village's guardian had been taken from them by Shin-Ra, which deepened the silvernette's anger towards the company even more. She silently vowed that if she ever found their guardian she would free him and bring him back to the people of Cosmo Canyon.

After making it through the various canyons of the region the children traveled north to the town of Nibelheim.

* * *

**Play Theme Anxious Heart**

"Alright! We're here!" Kaya said as she pulled her Chocobo to a stop at the the town's entrance. Her Chocobo was a majestic looking bird with midnight-black feathers and blue eyes. The all-white of the girl's clothing and her silver hair contrasted greatly with the great bird's dark feathers. It is also said that Black Chocobo are capable of flight. But since they are so rarely seen in the wild, it has yet to be confirmed. And Black Chocobo that had been either born in captivity or had been domesticated loses this ability, only showing the ability to traverse mountains and cross rivers.

"This is the place that you wanted to bring us to?" Aria asked as she pulled up next to her friend on her Blue Chocobo. Though the Blue Chocobo are a weaker sub-species than the Black Chocobo, they are known to cross through rivers and streams, a feat not many other species of Chocobo can do. Though rare to find in nature, they can be easily bred in captivity.

"Yep!" the silvernette said excitedly as she looked at her friend.

"But this doesn't look anything more than a sleepy little town." Sara said in confusion from atop her Green Chocobo. Like the Blue Chocobo, the Green Chocobo is a weaker sub-species of Chocobo. They have the ability to cross over mountainous terrain easily and are said to be able to cast curative magicks. While this species is also rare to find in nature, it too can be bred in captivity.

"Exactly my point!" Kaya exclaimed nearly causing the blonde to fall off of her mount. "No one would possibly suspect a sleepy little town like this to actually be the home of a top secret ShinRa science facility!" She said with a smirk as she looked back to the town.

"How did you get such information Kaya?" Ingus asked from the back of his Yellow Chocobo. Unlike the Green, Blue, and Black Chocobo, the Yellow Chocobo is the most common species of Chocobo to be found in either captivity or nature. However this species cannot cross rivers, or Climb Mountains, or even fly, thus limiting its range of habitat.

"I have my sources Ingus." the silvernette said mysteriously as she looked at her friend. "Now let's head to the inn and I'll let you guys in on the rest of the plan." she said as she commanded her Chocobo to enter the town.

* * *

After hitching up their rides, the kids entered the inn and rented rooms for the evening.

"So why did you bring us all the way out here to Nibelheim?" Sara asked as she sat down on the comfortable queen-sized mattress that was in the room that Aria, Sara, and Kaya were sharing.

Ingus was leaning against the wall near the door listening intently with his arms crossed over his chest while Aria sat on a chair next to him.

"The reason I brought you guys here with me is simple." the silvernette started as she looked out of the window at the town's square. As I said earlier, there is a secret ShinRa research facility hidden somewhere in this town. My sources told me that it is most likely hidden under the abandoned ShinRa Manor on the outskirts of town." she said as she turned around and looked at her friends.

"Are you planning to break into this lab?" Ingus asked in a serious tone. He knew that Kaya's plan was very dangerous and could cost them their lives if they were caught at any time.

"Yes I am." Kaya said in an equally serious tone.

"But whatever for?" Sara asked with worry. She couldn't bear the thought of one of her friends getting hurt.

"The dirt on all of Shin-Ra's illegal and inhumane experiments." said the silver-haired girl.

"What?" Aria asked in shock.

"That's right. For years Shin-Ra has been doing illegal genetic experimentation for their own twisted ends. I plan on going in there and grabbing every scrap of incriminating evidence I can find." the de facto leader said with conviction. She was going to find every single scrap of usable evidence she knew was buried somewhere in there and once she does, then she will send it to one of the Anti-Shin-Ra organizations so they could use it as a political weapon against the company. She was so close to having her revenge that she was trembling with anticipation.

But first she had to sneak in. Just because they say it was abandoned, doesn't really mean that it was.

"What do you want us to do?" asked Ingus. Unlike Aria and Sara, he had a bit of a grudge against ShinRa. So when he heard that Kaya wanted to take her revenge against ShinRa, he was all for helping her attain it.

Both Aria and Sara looked at the blond boy in shock.

"Ingus! You can't be serious! There's a chance that you- I mean, _we_ could get hurt!" Sara said in worry.

"Kaya brings up a good point. If we could get our hands on this information, then we'll be able to destroy the ShinRa Corporation's reputation. Hopefully to a point that it won't be able to recover from." the blonde said in a professional tone.

Both girls saw the logic in Ingus' explanation. But it didn't stop them from worrying about the challenge that lay before them.

"Well, Aria, Sara, you two are going to be the lookouts while Ingus is going to be my backup." Kaya said as she pulled out four sets of communication and listening devices and hand three pairs to Aria, Ingus, and Sara before placing the last one over her ear. "We'll sneak in under the cover of night. Once we're inside we'll sneak into the basement where the lab is hidden. If everything goes according to plan, then we will be walking out with a king's fortune worth of evidence." she said confidently before she adopted a somber look onto her face. "Aria, Sara... If anything goes wrong, and I mean anything... I want the two of you to grab your Chocobo and run." she said causing the two to immediately shout out their disagreement. "No! It has to be this way. If the two of you were ever hurt... Then I'll never be able to live with myself." she said quietly and the two blondes accepted their roles, albeit reluctantly. "We will leave as soon as it's dark outside. So I suggest you all get some rest." the silvernette said before slipping under the bed covers and dozing off.

Aria and Sara got into bed as well and Ingus left to his room.

**End Theme**

* * *

Night soon fell and the party of four was ready to begin their operation.

Kaya stood in front of the ShinRa Manor with Aria, Ingus, and Sara standing right behind her.

"Alright guys. This is it. Once we step through those doors... There will be no turning back." Kaya said resolutely as she looked at her friends.

Aria and Sara had a determined look in their eyes though they were still worried. Aria especially. She felt as though that something important was about to happen tonight.

Ingus looked at the manor with a steely gaze. This wasn't the first time he looked possible death in the face.

"Is everyone ready? I won't hold it against you if you want to back out." Kaya said to see if they had a firm resolve or not.

The three blondes nodded their heads and stood strongly.

"Alright. Ingus, let's head inside. Aria, Sara, keep us posted if anything happens out here." the silvernette said as she looked at the two girls.

"Alright. And please be careful. You too, Ingus." Sara said as she gave the two a hug for good luck.

"Don't worry, we will." Ingus said with a reassuring smile.

The two then entered the abandoned Shin-Ra Manor unsure of what they will face once inside.

* * *

**Play theme The Nightmare's Beginning**

Upon entering the mansion, the two children immediately noticed the old and decrepit state it was in.

"Let's be careful. We don't know what kind of monsters could be living here." Ingus said as he drew his sword. It was a basic long-sword made of steel. The only defining characteristic was the red handle and guard.

"Right." Kaya said as she drew her katana. It was a simple steel blade with no special defining characteristics. It had and all white handle and a silver guard. Its scabbard was all white and had small cyan colored white flowers near the tip. Instead of having the scabbard hanging from her waist, she instead carried it in her left hand for use as a secondary weapon if it was necessary.

They began to explore the Shin-Ra Manor very thoroughly and after ten minutes they couldn't find anything of value. Not even the entrance to the basement.

"No luck down here. Let's try upstairs." the silvernette said as she pointed at the stairs.

"Right." the blond boy said with a nod.

Just before they started climbing the stairs, they heard the ceiling break and something crash onto the floor behind them accompanied by yelling.

The two children looked back and saw something quite large pick itself up off of the floor.

The person before them was tall, very tall. They easily dwarfed the two children in both size and muscle mass. The person was a gigantic man with red skin, two sharp fangs poking out of his lower lips, and spiky black hair, possessing a white streak on the left side. He wore orange goggles with no reflection that hid his eyes from view. He wore a dark-red colored uniform of sorts but with a sleeveless top. He had golden rods attached onto the darker red cross on his back, and two black gauntlets made of complex machinery.

"Ugh, this structure is more unstable than I thought it would be." the giant said as he dusted himself off. The giant put a massive finger to his ear, turning on the communication device he had there. "Kokonoe, can you hear me? I have successfully infiltrated the Shin-Ra Manor. Though there is now a very large hole in the roof." he said while his back was turned to the two children.

Static crackled over the feed for a second before a woman's voice was heard.

"Good. Proceed with your mission. If these readings are correct then the thirteenth subject should be somewhere in this building." the woman said in a business-like tone.

"Understood." the man said with a nod.

The red giant turned around to proceed up the stairs only to find Kaya and Ingus baring his path. Both children were staring at him in a mixture of shock, awe, and a bit of fear.

'_I did not expect children to be out at this time of night. Especially in here of all places._' the red giant thought in shock.

"Who or better yet, what are you?" Kaya asked as she looked up to the giant.

"Kokonoe we seem to have a bit of a problem here." the red man said as he reactivated his communication device.

"Did you run into any Shin-Ra soldiers?" the woman asked with a slight amount of concern in her voice.

"No, I didn't run into the enemy yet." replied the giant.

"Then what's the problem?!" Kokonoe said in irritation.

"There are a couple of kids here. How should I deal with them?" the red giant asked through the earpiece.

"Kids? Hell, I don't know. Get them to leave or something! The last things we need are a couple of snot nosed brats getting in the way of retrieving the thirteenth subject!" the woman said impatiently.

"Understood. I'll try my best." the man said before bringing his attention back to the two kinds in front of him. "So, what are a couple of kids like you two doing here at this time of night? Isn't it a little past your bedtime?" he asked in a sweet but curious voice.

"We could ask you the same thing Mr..." Kaya said in a suspicious voice though she trailed off silently asking for the giant's name.

"I'm Iron Tager. But you can call me Tager. And as for the reason I'm here, well that's top secret." the now named Iron Tager said as he adjusted his goggles.

"Not really a secret since your friend pretty much announced it over your earpiece." Ingus said as he crossed his arms.

"Why you little Brat!" Kokonoe shouted over the communication device. "Why don't you and your little friend here get out of our way?! The last thing we need are a couple of kids jeopardizing the mission!" she said in an irritated voice.

"Hey let's not get off on the wrong foot. I can tell that you guys want to take something that's very important to Shin-Ra too." Kaya said trying to keep a fight from breaking out. If they got into a fight now then the two of them would surely lose.

"And what are the two of you looking for?" Tager asked also trying to play peace keeper.

"Dirt." the silvernette said mysteriously.

"Dirt?" Tager asked in curiosity.

"That's all you have to know." said the girl.

"Hey kid. What's your name?" Kokonoe asked in curiosity. She could see everything that Tager sees via live video feed. Looking at the silver-haired girl reminded her of someone. Who, she did not know. But it nagged at the back of her mind.

"My name is Kaya Argentum." Kaya said in a formal tone. "And you are?" she asked curiously.

"Name's Kokonoe." introduced the woman. "Argentum... Where have I heard that name before?" she muttered to herself out loud, though Tager was the only one that heard her.

"Might I suggest cross-referencing that name through our data banks." the Red Devil muttered back to her quietly.

"Right. and if nothing comes up then I'll just hack into the main computer at Shin-Ra HQ to find out." Kokonoe muttered as she got to work on finding out where else she had heard that name from. "Okay Kaya, I have a feeling that you and your friend here..." the woman said only to be interrupted by Kaya.

"Ingus." said the girl.

"Right. I'm sure you and _Ingus_ here are after the same thing we are. So why don't we came to a sort of truce. You help us get what we want, and we'll help you get what you want." suggested the woman.

"All right. But I'm keeping my eyes on you. I don't trust you guys with having my back just yet." the girl said as she glared up at the giant.

"That seems fair enough. After all, you've only just met us." Tager said politely as he adjusted his goggles.

With their temporary partnership now formed the trio made their way up the stairs.

* * *

The party of three explored the upper floor of the Shin-Ra Manor with little success.

Due to Tager's gigantic frame and thunderous footsteps, he often attracted the attention of the mansion's resident fiends and ghouls. This unfortunately caused the dreaded Random Encounter many times throughout their search.

* * *

They eventually found the master bedroom and decided to take a break.

"Man. why are there so many ghouls?" Kaya said as she plopped down onto the old bed. The mattress creaked under her weight.

"My apologies. I was unaware that my presence would attract such dangerous creatures." Tager said apologetically.

"This house hasn't been lived in for years. We were bound to have attracted the attention of whatever might have lived here." Ingus said as he leaned against a nearby wall.

"I don't get it. We checked everywhere. Nut couldn't find the damn entrance to the secret lab." the silvernette said as she lay down onto the bed. '_What's the best way to hide something that you want to keep a secret?_' she thought as she closed her eyes. Her eyes were scrunched up in thought for several moments before realization had hit her like a runaway freight train. '_You hide it in plain sight!_' she thought as her eyes snapped open.

Kaya shot up off of the bed and ran to the wall farthest from the windows or door, which just so happened to have been the wall that Ingus was leaning against. She threw him off from his spot and began knocking on several different spots on the wall.

"Ugh, Kaya! What was that for?!" Ingus whined uncharacteristically from his spot on the floor.

"Quiet! I'm looking for the hidden entrance!" the silvernette whispered harshly as she continued to tap on the wall, listening for the subtle variations in sound.

For several minutes she knocked at the wall until one knock sounded hollow.

"Found it!" she said in victory. She quickly felt around until she found a hidden switch. Upon flipping the switch, a secret door with a spiraling wooden staircase opened up before them. "Gentlemen... and woman." she said referring to Kokonoe, who had listened in. "I give you our secret entrance!" she said with a victorious grin.

**Chapter 4 End**

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Play Historia Crux theme**

Titano Man XIII: And that's where I will leave things for today. So… Good? Bad? Let me know. But I for one am pleased by how it turned out. I warned you all earlier that this would be a sort of filler chapter. Next chapter is when we'll start introducing the other characters. As well as bring our heroes back into the action. The next few chapters are going to get exciting!

Makoto Nanaya: Hey T, are we gonna make our debut next chapter?

Noel Vermillion: Yeah, I kind of want to meet your characters already.

Tsubaki Yayoi: I'll have to admit. I want to meet them too.

Titano Man XIII: Don't worry girls. You will all debut sooner or later.

Hazama: Speaking of screen time. When am I going to show my handsome mug to my adoring fans again?

Titano Man XIII: Don't worry Hazama. You'll get your screen time. But for now, just sit back, relax, troll some people, and eat some hard-boiled eggs.

Hazama: Why that sounds like a wonderful idea! I think I'll do just that.

Hazama leaves the room.

Titano Man XIII: Now that we have taken care of that problem, let's get back on track. Next chapter Kaya will run into a couple of ex-SOLDIERs and the mysterious thirteenth subject (You all know who they are). If you're wondering how the characters from BlazBlue ended up on Gaia then you probably need to brush up on your Kingdom Hearts info since it's kind of obvious. Anyways. If you're also wondering about the second OC then she'll appear later. I know that I told you that I would show her this chapter. But I decided that I'll do it next chapter. Tune in next time for the next action packed installment of Dragon Ball Z. Sorry wrong title. I meant to say Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts.

Kaya Argentum: See you next time.


	6. Chapter 5: Escape

Titano Man XIII: I'm feeling really good now!

Sora: How come?

Titano Man XIII: I've been favorited!

Noel: That's great! That means people really like this story!

Hazama: But you only have three measly reviews. And out of 200+ views... that's pretty pathetic.

Titano Man XIII: S-shut up! Let me have this!

Hazama: Ehhh, no.

Titano Man XIII: *Muttering* Troll.

Hazama: Thank you!

Titano Man XIII: *Sigh* Anyways. Let's get this show on the road! Someone give the disclaimer!

Mickey Mouse: I'll give it a whirl. Titano Man XIII does not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, Or any of the following video games and/or anime: Naruto, Bleach, Rosario+Vampire, Soul Eater, Avatar the Last Airbender, 8 Bit Theater Chaos, The Legend of Spyro/Skylanders: Spyro's adventure, Sonic Colors, SoulCalibur V, Devil May Cry 1, 2, 3, or 4, Arc the lad: Twilight of the Spirits, Panzer Dragoon: Orta, and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as well as anything else he decides to put into this story. But all the original characters in this story are his property.

Titano Man XIII: On with the show!

* * *

**Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts**

**Chapter 5: Escape**

* * *

Kaya Argentum: Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts, the story so far...

**Play theme Track of Battles**

(The scene phases in through the static.)

"Alright! We're here!" Kaya said as she pulled her Chocobo to a stop at the town's entrance.

(Spike of static)

"This is the place that you wanted to bring us to?" Aria asked as she pulled up next to her friend on her Blue Chocobo.

"Yep!" the silvernette said excitedly as she looked at her friend.

"But this doesn't look anything more than a sleepy little town." Sara said in confusion from atop her Green Chocobo.

"Exactly!" Kaya exclaimed nearly causing the blonde to fall off of her mount. "No one would possibly suspect a sleepy little town like this to actually be the home of a top-secret Shinra science facility!" She said with a smirk as she looked back to the town.

"How did you get such information Kaya?" Ingus asked from the back of his Yellow Chocobo.

"I have my sources Ingus." the silvernette said mysteriously as she looked at her friend. "Now let's head to the inn and I'll let you guys in on the rest of the plan." she said as she commanded her Chocobo to enter the town.

(Static)

"Are you planning to break into this lab?" Ingus asked in a serious tone. He knew that Kaya's plan was very dangerous and could cost them their lives if they got caught.

"Yes I am." Kaya said in an equally serious tone.

"But whatever for?" Sara asked with worry. She couldn't bear the thought of one of her friends getting hurt.

"The dirt on all of Shinra's illegal and inhumane experiments." said the silver-haired girl.

"What?" Aria asked in shock.

"That's right. For years Shinra has been doing illegal genetic experimentation for their own twisted ends. I plan on going in there and grabbing every scrap of incriminating evidence I can find." the de facto leader said with conviction. She was going to find every single scrap of usable evidence she knew was buried somewhere in there and once she does, then she will send it to one of the Anti-Shinra organizations so they could use it as a political weapon against the company. She was so close to having her revenge that she was trembling with anticipation.

(Static)

(Static) "We'll sneak in under the cover of night. Once we're inside we'll sneak into the basement where the lab is hidden. If everything goes according to plan, then we will be walking out with a king's fortune worth of evidence." she said confidently before she adopted a somber look onto her face. "Aria, Sara... If anything goes wrong, and I mean anything... I want the two of you to grab your Chocobo and run." she said causing the two to immediately shout out their disagreement. "No! It has to be this way. If the two of you were ever hurt... Then I'll never be able to live with myself." she said quietly and the two blondes accepted their roles, albeit reluctantly.

(Static)

Night soon fell and the party of four was ready to begin their operation.

Kaya stood in front of the Shinra Manor with Aria, Ingus, and Sara standing right behind her.

"Alright guys. This is it. Once we step through those doors... There will be no turning back." Kaya said resolutely as she looked at her friends.

Aria and Sara had a determined look in their eyes though they were still worried. Aria especially. She felt as though that something important was about to happen tonight.

Ingus looked at the mansion with a steely gaze. This wasn't the first time he looked possible death in the face.

"Is everyone ready? I won't hold it against you if you want to back out." Kaya said to see if they had a firm resolve or not.

The three blondes nodded their heads and stood strongly.

"Alright. Ingus, let's head inside. Aria, Sara, keep us posted if anything happens out here." the silvernette said as she looked at the two girls.

"Alright. And please be careful. You too Ingus." Sara said as she gave the two a hug for good luck.

"Don't worry, we will." Ingus said with a reassuring smile.

The two then entered the abandoned Shinra Manor unsure of what they will face once inside.

(Static)

Upon entering the mansion, the two children immediately noticed the old and decrepit state it was in.

"Let's be careful. We don't know what kind of monsters could be living here." Ingus said as he drew his sword.

"Right." Kaya said as she drew her katana. It was a simple steel blade with no special defining characteristics. It had and all white handle and a silver guard. Its scabbard was all white and had small cyan colored white flowers near the tip. Instead of having the scabbard hanging from her waist, she instead carried it in her left hand for use as a secondary weapon if it was necessary.

They began to explore the Shinra Manor very thoroughly and after ten minutes they couldn't find anything of value. Not even the entrance to the basement.

"No luck down here. Let's try upstairs." the silvernette said as she pointed at the stairs.

"Right." the blond boy said with a nod.

Just before they started climbing the stairs, they heard the ceiling break and something crash onto the floor behind them accompanied by yelling.

The two children looked back and saw something quite large pick itself up off of the floor.

The individual before them was tall, very tall. They easily dwarfed the two children in both size and muscle mass. The person was a giant of a man with red skin, two sharp fangs poking out of his lower lips, and spiky black hair, possessing a white streak on the left side. He wore orange goggles with no reflection that hid his eyes from view. He wore a dark-red colored uniform of sorts but with a sleeveless top. He had golden rods attached onto the darker red cross on his back, and two black gauntlets made of complex machinery.

"Ugh, this structure is more unstable than I thought it would be." the giant said as he dusted himself off. The giant put a massive finger to his ear, turning on the communication device he had there. "Kokonoe, can you hear me? I have successfully infiltrated the Shinra Manor. Though there is now a very large hole in the roof." he said while his back was turned to the two children.

(Static spike)

Static crackled over the feed for a second before a woman's voice was heard.

"Good. Proceed with your mission. If these readings are correct then the thirteenth subject should be somewhere in this building." the woman said in a business-like tone.

"Understood." the man said with a nod.

The red giant turned around to proceed up the stairs only to find Kaya and Ingus baring his path. Both children were staring at him in a mixture of shock, awe, and a bit of fear.

'_I did not expect children to be out at this time of night. Especially in here of all places._' the red giant thought in shock.

"Who or better yet, what are you?" Kaya asked as she looked up to the giant.

(Static)

"Kokonoe we seem to have a bit of a problem here." the red man said as he reactivated his communication device.

"Did you run into any Shinra soldiers?" the woman asked with a slight amount of concern in her voice.

"No, I didn't run into the enemy yet." replied the giant.

"Then what's the problem?!" Kokonoe said in irritation.

"There are a couple of kids here. How should I deal with them?" the red giant asked through the earpiece.

"Kids? Hell, I don't know. Get them to leave or something! The last things we need are a couple of snot nosed brats getting in the way of retrieving the thirteenth subject!" the woman said impatiently.

"Understood. I'll try my best." the man said before bringing his attention back to the two kinds in front of him. "So, what are a couple of kids like you two doing here at this time of night? Isn't it a little past your bedtime?" he asked in a sweet but curious voice.

"We could ask you the same thing Mr..." Kaya said in a suspicious voice though she trailed off silently asking for the giant's name.

"I am called Iron Tager. But you can call me Tager. And the reason I'm here, well that's top-secret." the now named Iron Tager said as he adjusted his goggles.

"Not really a secret since your friend pretty much announced it over your earpiece." Ingus said as he crossed his arms.

"Why you little Brat!" Kokonoe shouted over the communication device. "Why don't you and your little friend here get out of our way! The last things we need are a couple of kids getting in the way!" she said in an irritated voice.

"Hey let's not get off on the wrong foot. I can tell that you guys want to take something that's very important to Shinra too." Kaya said trying to keep a fight from breaking out. If they got into a fight now then the two of them would surely lose.

"And what are the two of you looking for?" Tager asked also trying to play peace keeper.

"Dirt." the silvernette said mysteriously.

"Dirt?" Tager asked in curiosity.

"That's all you have to know." said the girl.

"Hey kid. What's your name?" Kokonoe asked in curiosity. She could see everything that Tager sees via live video feed. Looking at the silver-haired girl reminded her of someone. Who, she did not know. But it nagged at the back of her mind.

"My name is Kaya Argentum." Kaya said in a formal tone. "And you are?" she asked curiously.

"Name's Kokonoe." introduced the woman.

(Static)

With their partnership formed the trio made their way up the stairs.

The party of three explored the upper floor of the Shinra Manor with little success. Due to Tager's gigantic frame and thunderous footsteps, he often attracted the attention of several of the mansion's resident fiends and ghouls to attack them.

They eventually found the master bedroom and decided to take a break.

(Static)

"I don't get it. We checked everywhere. But couldn't find the damn entrance to the secret Lab." the silvernette said as she laid down onto the bed. '_What's the best way to hide something that you want to keep a secret?_' she thought as she closed her eyes. Her eyes were scrunched up in thought for several moments before realization had hit her like a runaway freight train. '_You hide it in plain sight!_' she thought as her eyes snapped open.

Kaya shot up off of the bed and ran to the wall farthest from the windows or door, which just so happened to have been the wall that Ingus was leaning against. She threw him off from his spot and began knocking on several different spots on the wall.

"Ugh, Kaya! What was that for?!" Ingus whined uncharacteristically from his spot on the floor.

"Quiet! I'm looking for the hidden entrance!" the silvernette whispered harshly as she continued to tap on the wall, listening for the subtle variations in sound.

For several minutes she knocked at the wall until one knock sounded hollow.

"Found it!" she said in victory. She quickly felt around until she found a hidden switch. Upon flipping the switch, a secret door with a spiraling wooden staircase opened up before them. "Gentlemen... and woman." she said referring to Kokonoe, who had listened in. "I give you our secret entrance!" she said with a victorious grin.

(The scene fades into static once more.)

**End Theme**

* * *

**Play Theme The Nightmare's Beginning**

Both Iron Tager and Ingus stared in awe at the silver-haired girl's detective work.

Kaya stood in front of the now revealed doorway with a proud smile on her face and her hands resting victoriously on her hips. "Am I good or what?" she asked rhetorically as she looked back to her two partners on this mission.

"I have to say. That was quite impressive." Tager praised as he adjusted his goggles.

"Heh, thanks." she said with a small modest smile and a light blush on her face.

"Alright, enough pats on the back." said Kokonoe. "Let's get back to the task at hand." she said reminding everyone of their respective goals.

"Right. Let's get going." Kaya said as she turned back around and went through the doorway. Followed shortly after by Ingus and Tager.

The door led to a large spiraling wooden staircase that went down the length of a large shaft that led to an underground cavern.

"I'm amazed that the staircase didn't break under your weight Mr. Tager." Ingus said as the trio walked down the cavern with Tager lighting the way. Apparently his eyes had built-in high-beam lights. Both children walked behind the giant since he was the only source of illumination and he also made a good steel wall to block the monsters.

"Apparently it was more structurally sound than we thought." Tager said sounding indifferent. Though on the inside he was glad that the walkway didn't collapse. He would feel terrible if Ingus and Kaya had gotten hurt because of him.

Kaya suddenly held out her arm, signaling the two to stop. A look of pure steel was worn on her face and an intense fire burned in her eyes.

"What's wrong Kaya?" Ingus asked in concern before the silvernette slapped her hand over his mouth and put a finger to her lips silently telling the boy to remain silent.

The silver-haired girl pointed down the path and standing a little ways away were two Shinra infantrymen with their backs towards the group.

She silently gestured for the two to stay where they were before silently stalking up behind the two men who were chatting idly.

The girl silently drew a six-inch knife from between her large breasts and made her move.

Within moments she had slashed the throat of one of the infantrymen before quickly stabbing the other man in the heart before he could make any noise. She even covered the man's mouth to make sure that no sound had escaped his lips.

"Shh. Go to sleep... Shinra dog." the girl whispered soothingly as she sat on the man, her voice low enough so that only the man can hear her. The infantryman looked at the girl in horror. Plastered onto her face was a toothy grin that looked like that of a psychotic murderer who only derived pleasure from killing others.

Kaya watched as the light finally left the Shinra infantryman's eyes. Many emotions passed through her during this act. She had felt utter elation and joy at the familiar feeling of her knife slicing through flesh and piercing the organs of those she despised so greatly. So much pleasure was felt from this act that she couldn't help but grin in a way that made her resemble a certain fictional wide-eyed, grinning mass murderer she had read stories about. She had even uttered the words he was famous for to boost the horror factor, and it worked perfectly. But in the very back of her mind she felt disgusted by her actions and that she enjoyed it.

She had been careful not to let Ingus or Tager see the expression she had on her face, which is why she had her back to them when she had stabbed the soldier. If either of them see it then it would ruin the mission and she would never have her revenge. She quickly schooled her expression to a look of total indifference and removed her knife from the corpse, wiped the blood on the knife onto his shirt, put the knife back in its place between her breasts, and stood back up without a care.

Tager was shocked at the cold and efficient way Kaya had disposed of the two infantrymen. He wondered just how skilled this girl was and even more disturbing, how many people had she killed?

"Let's get moving." she stated coldly and move on ahead.

Ingus and Tager followed after her though they were a little uneasy about her sudden personality change.

* * *

After a while the party passed a wooden wall that looked like it shouldn't have been there.

Kaya stopped and stared at the wall.

Ingus looked back and saw that his friend had stopped.

"What's wrong Kaya?" he asked the silvernette.

"I don't know... but I feel so much sadness, pain, and regret coming from behind this wall." she said with a shiver. It's like some poor, tortured soul is trapped within the darkness. But the scary part is that they don't want to leave that darkness." she started hugging herself as she felt the temperature get lower.

Before she knew it Kaya had started hyperventilating.

Ingus quickly pulled the silvernette away from the wall and she began to recover.

"Thank you." she said feeling shaken. She had never felt such an oppressive feeling of sadness and despair before. And it had frightened her.

"Come on. We better catch up to Tager." the blond said and pulled Kaya along further into the cavern.

But behind the wooden wall that looked like it shouldn't have been there was a hidden anti-chamber. Within the chamber were dozens upon dozens of coffins. But the emotions that Kaya had felt came from one special coffin that sat in the center of the chamber.

Within this casket was an individual cloaked in darkness. Cursed to be a monster for all eternity. And thus this person had resigned themselves to their fate to sleep within darkness. Never to see the light of day ever again.

* * *

Soon enough the party had found the lab and the library containing all the notes on every experiment that was conducted within the mansion.

"We found it!" Kaya said excitedly as she ran further into the laboratory.

"Indeed. Kokonoe… I've found the lab. ...Kokonoe?" Tager said as he held a hand to his earpiece. All the man heard was static. "No signal. Looks like we're on our own." he said as he shook his head.

"Let me try." Ingus said as her turned on his earpiece. "Sara…? Aria…? Come in... Do you read me?" the boy asked but received nothing but static in return. "We're too far down for us to get a signal." he said with a sigh.

"Then we better hurry." said Kaya. "I'll look over in the library over there. It looks like it has everything we'll need to put Shinra out of business." she said as she started walking towards the library. "Help Mr. Tager find what he's looking for. It's the least we can do." she said before she pulled out a book and started flipping through it.

"Right." the blond said with a nod before turning to the Red Devil. "So… if I was the thirteenth subject... where would I be?" he asked the giant.

"Hmm, probably further into the lab." The man said before walking further into the lab.

* * *

Meanwhile Kaya was going through the shelves looking for anything that would be incriminating enough to damage Shinra's reputation. So far she had found several books and journals on some of the unethical experiments that were done here but nothing that couldn't really hold up in a court of law.

She eventually came across a large desk that was covered in many books and documents. A large majority of which pertained to something called the Jenova S Project.

Believing she had just hit the jack-pot, she grabbed every last piece of evidence on the Jenova Project she could and stuffed them into the bag she had brought with her. She even picked up several documents referring to something called the Nibelheim Incident and the Jenova G project.

She was about to rejoin her fellow party members when she had noticed a small journal sitting on the desk. But it wasn't the journal itself that caught her attention. It was a large manila folder stuffed with many documents. Written in large, bold, letters was the name of an experiment called the Jenova A Project.

An odd feeling crawled up Kaya's spine as she read and re-read the name on the folder over and over.

'_The Jenova A Project?_' she thought as she slowly reached out to pick up the folder.

The girl's instincts were screaming at her to not pick up the book and walk away. But her damned curiosity was getting the better of her. She slowly picked up the folder and the little journal that sat on top of it and stared at them before placing them in a secret pocket within the bag where she had also stored the information about the Jenova Project.

She closed the bag and made her way to the main laboratory.

* * *

Meanwhile Ingus and Tager had found something quite interesting.

They had found four containment capsules each filled with a mysterious green liquid.

Each capsule held a person inside of them.

The first capsule held a man with an X-shaped scar on his cheek and long spiky black hair, with a lock of hair hanging down in front of his face. He wore a black 1st Class SOLDIER uniform which consisted of a black, sleeveless turtle-neck shirt, black, baggy pants, a large belt with the emblem of SOLDIER on it, black boots, a pair of black shoulder pads, and a pair of black gloves.

The second capsule held another man though he was a little younger than the first man and had spiky blond hair. He wore the standard uniform for the Shinra Electric Power Company's infantry which consisted of blue clothing with several belts and straps and a green-gray piece of cloth around the collar.

What slept in the third capsule greatly shocked both Ingus and Tager. Within the capsule was a girl who looked to be around the age of twelve with long blonde hair and pale skin. She wore a white cloak over a green leotard and had white boots on.

'_The Shinra Company even experiments on young children?!_' Tager thought both horrified and enraged by the atrocities the company had done.

The Red Devil soon moved his attention to the last capsule and the person inside of it.

The last capsule also held a girl around the age of fourteen with sunken eyes and long silver hair tied into a braid that was held together by a single blade. She wore a bright, light blue, skin-tight, shoulderless, sleeveless, jumpsuit that ended around mid-thigh, leaving the rest of her legs and feet exposed, a long white cape with red-colored tape seals attached to the end of it, and over her right eye was an eye-patch that had a sort of red jewel engraved onto it.

'_She must be the thirteenth subject._' the Red Devil thought as he stared at the sleeping child.

"Hey guys! I found everything that I think could come in handy." Kaya said as she walked up to the giant. "Did you find what you were looking for?" she asked as she shifted her weight from her right leg to her left leg and back continuously. She wanted to leave. If she stayed here any longer then it would surely bring out the worst of her.

Tager could see that Kaya was starting to get nervous and that she wanted to leave as soon as possible if the way she was shifting her weight and glancing around was anything to go by.

"Yes. I am quite certain that this girl is the thirteenth subject." the giant said as he looked at the sleeping silvernette in the capsule.

Kaya stared at the people in the capsules. '_These poor people. There has to be something I can do._' she thought as she scanned the capsules. Her eyes eventually landed on the black-haired man.

For a second she thought she saw the man's hand twitched.

Confused, she stepped closer to investigate.

She stared intently at the man for close a minute before deciding that it was nothing more than her imagination. But before she could look away the man's eyes suddenly snapped open revealing them to be sky-blue in color with a sort of glow about them. The sudden action caused her to shriek and fall to the floor.

"Kaya what's wrong?" Ingus said as he helped his friend up.

"That guy! He's awake in there!" she said as she pointed at the man who was staring at her in confusion.

The man seemed to realize his situation and started trying to force his way out of the container he was in.

"Quick! We have to get him out of that thing!" Kaya said urgently as she searched for a way to open the capsule. Within moments she found the release button and pressed it.

The capsule was drained of the mysterious liquid and opened, allowing the man to stumble out and fall to his knees.

As the SOLDIER tried to catch his breath Kaya crouched down next to him and placed hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" she asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said as he recovered. He looked at the silvernette and his eyes widened in recognition. "Maya...? Is that... you?" he asked in disbelief.

Kaya's eyes widened in shock. "Maya…? No, my name is Kaya." she said feeling an odd sense of familiarity with the name. Who was this man? Did he know some other girl who looked like Kaya with a name so hauntingly similar to her own? '_No. It has to have been nothing more than a coincidence that's all!_' she thought denying the possibility of some sort of doppelganger of her out there somewhere. There really can't be another girl out there with a similar name as hers...? Right…?

"Kaya…? Sorry my mistake. It's just that you look exactly like... Never mind. What are you people doing here?" the man asked as he stood up.

"I am here to retrieve the thirteenth subject from this facility so that Shinra can't use it as a possible weapon of mass destruction." Tager stated as he towered over the man.

"Whoa! You're a big guy." the black-haired man said feeling a little intimidated by the giant.

"My friend and I are here to gather as much incriminating evidence against Shinra as we can." Kaya said as she gestured to Ingus and herself.

"Evidence?" the man asked in confusion.

"Indeed. These two are looking for proof of the many atrocities that the Shinra Company has kept from the public." Tager said as he adjusted his goggles. "And judging from the attire you and your friend in there are currently wearing..." he gestured to the blond man in the capsule. "I would say that you two are, or were, a part of Shinra's military." the Red Devil said as he crossed his arms.

"Huh?" the black-haired man said in confusion as he looked to the capsule. His eyes widened in shock when he saw the capsules occupant. "Cloud!" he said as he pressed the release button and watched as the liquid in the pod drained out.

"Cloud…?" Kaya asked in curiosity. Who would actually name their kid Cloud?

"That's this guy's name. He's a good friend of mine." the man said before catching the unconscious man as he fell. "Hey Cloud! Come on buddy wake up!" he said urgently but Cloud was unresponsive.

"What's wrong with him?" Kaya asked in worry.

"Hmm... My readings show that this young man is suffering from what you would call Mako addiction." Tager said analytically.

"Mako addiction? Damn." he cursed as he looked at his friend. He then hefted Cloud up and draped one of his arms around his shoulders before making his way to the exit.

"Wait, where are you going?" Kaya asked in alarm.

"I'm getting out of here before anyone from Shinra show up. You guys better do the same too." the SOLDIER 1st-class said as he made his way through the lab.

"He brings up a good point." said Ingus. "Aside from the two guards from earlier, so far we haven't run into anything other than monsters. So I think we shouldn't press our luck any further." he said as he crossed his arms.

"Agreed. I think it's time we take our leave." Tager said before he pushed the release button on the silver-haired girl's containment pod. The strange liquid drained out of the pod and it opened. The girl started to fall before the giant caught her with his massive hands. "Target acquired. Let's get out of here." he said as he turned to leave.

"Wait! What about her?" Kaya asked as she looked at the young blonde girl in the pod. "We can't just leave her here and let Shinra keep doing experiments on her." she said as she placed a hand over her heart. She could only shudder at the kind of torture that poor girl had lived through.

"I suppose you're right. Let's get her out of here as well." Tager said as he turned back to the pods.

Kaya nodded and pushed the release button.

With all the unwilling test subjects now freed from their prison the party quickly left the lab.

* * *

"Hey mister, wait up!" Kaya said as the group of three caught up to the black-haired man. "I'm pretty sure that you could use a hand in getting out of here." she said as she held up her sword.

"Guess I don't have much of a choice now do I? Sure. You can lend a hand." the man said with a nod.

"Thanks I won't let you down!" the silvernette said before moving to the front. "Oh wait! I told you my name... But you haven't told me yours!" she said as she looked back at the man.

"My name is Zack Fair. But Zack is just fine." said the now named Zack Fair.

"Nice to meet you Zack. My friend with the girl on his back is Ingus. And the big guy there is call Iron Tager." she said referring to the other party members.

"Hello there/Nice to meet you." Ingus and Tager said at the same time.

"Hi." Zack said with a small wave of his hand.

"Now that the introductions are out-of-the-way, let's get out of here. This place is giving me the creeps." she said as she rubbed her arms.

* * *

The party had soon returned to the master bedroom without much trouble. Zack had asked about the corpses on the way up but Kaya told him that she had killed them in a nonchalant way. This unsettled the three men a bit.

Suddenly Kaya stopped when a voice came through the static of her earpiece.

"...-gus...? Kaya...? Do either of you read me?!" Sara's voice asked urgently over the communicator.

"Sara?" Kaya asked as she spoke into her earpiece.

"Oh thank Ifrit! I was so worried!" Sara said in relief.

"We're alright. And we have what we came for so we'll be out in no time." the silvernette said in a victorious tone.

"Alright Kaya. Aria and I will get the Chocobo ready." she said before going to do just that.

"Alright we'll see you two outside." she said before turning off her earpiece.

"Friends of yours?" Tager asked in curiosity.

"Yeah... Really good friends." the silvernette said with a smile.

* * *

After changing Cloud and the two girls out of there Mako drenched clothing (in which case the former into a spare SOLDIER uniform that Zack had and for the latter two a couple of old dresses from one of the dressers) and Zack resolving to go to Midgar to fulfill a promise he had made, the party soon reached the foyer without running into any monsters.

"I can't believe our luck." Ingus said in slight disbelief. "At this rate I doubt anything could go wrong." he stated confidently moments before Kaya slapped her hand over his mouth with a look of fear on her face.

"Ingus, you idiot! You _never_ say that sort of thing out loud!" she said harshly before glancing around. It always guarantees that something goes wrong every time that says that line!" she said as she took her hand off of his mouth.

"I think you've watched a bit too much television." said Zack.

"I'm serious! Bad stuff happens when someone says that line!" she said as she glanced about fearfully.

For a few moments nothing happens and Kaya relaxes slightly.

"See. Nothing bad happened. Now let's get going before some monsters show up or something." the SOLDIER said as he turned to leave.

The group made to leave when they heard the sound of clanking metal.

They turned around to see an odd group of creatures standing before them.

The creatures were odd in appearance since some were roughly humanoid in shape while the others that floated in the air were more bell-shaped and came in an assortment of colors.

The first set of creatures had a vaguely humanoid body structure. They had round, spherical heads with circular, glowing yellow eyes. They also had two long, twisted antennae sprouting out of the top of their heads. Each of their hands had three clawed fingers, and their feet were large and lacked any discernible digits. With the exception of their eyes, their bodies were completely black. These creatures were known collectively as Shadows

The second set of creatures had a much more refined appearance than the Shadows, they appeared to be a noble knight-type warrior. But a closer examination revealed that the creatures were just as beastly as the other monsters. Their muscular forms were clad in bluish-black body suits bearing a strange emblem that looked to be a black heart with read thorns crossing through it and purple inverted emblems trimmed in gold on the knees. They wore black, silver trimmed shoes that ended in spiral toes, silver wristbands, and a silver knight's helm decorated with two angular, eye-like spirals on the front and a yellow stripe at the base of the curled silver plume. Their true monster-like behavior comes out on a close examination of their fierce blue and red-tipped claws, and their shadowed faces with bright yellow eyes and toothy maw. These beasts were commonly known as Soldiers.

The third sets of creatures floated through the air without the aid of wings and were all roughly bell-shaped. with different colors setting them apart.

One set had smooth, conical, red bodies with the same emblem emblazoned on their chests as the Soldiers. The top of their bodies flared out and formed a jagged "collar" below their spherical, black heads. They also wore conical, yellow hats that had a jagged brim and a thin, curled tip. Like many of the other creatures, they had glowing yellow eyes. And their seemingly useless feet sported three small, thin toes. These creatures were called Red Nocturne.

Another set had smooth, conical, blue bodies with the same strange emblem emblazoned on their chests. The top of their bodies flared out and formed a jagged "collar" below their spherical, black heads. They also wore conical, yellow hats with a jagged brim and a thin, curled tip. Like the other creatures, they had glowing yellow eyes. And their seemingly useless feet sported three small, thin toes. They were called Blue Rhapsody.

The third set had smooth, conical, yellow bodies and had the same emblem emblazoned on their chests. The top of their bodies flared out and formed a jagged "collar" below their spherical, black heads. They also wears a conical, orange hats that had a jagged brim and a thin, slightly bent tip. Like the others, they had glowing yellow eyes. And their seemingly useless feet sport three small, thin toes. They were known as Yellow Opera.

And the last set of the floating bell-shaped creatures had smooth, conical bodies that were a light shade of green and had the same emblem emblazoned on their chests. The top of their bodies flared out and formed a jagged "collar" below their spherical, black heads. They also wore conical, orange hats that had a jagged brim and a thin, curled tip. Like the other creatures, they had glowing yellow eyes. And their seemingly useless feet sported three small, thin toes. These were the Green Requiem.

While the party had no idea what these monsters were, others knew them as the Heartless. A race of monsters born from the darkness within man's heart.

Kaya glared at Zack. "You just had to say something, didn't you?" all she got as a response was a sheepish laugh.

"Sorry." the SOLDIER said sheepishly.

The silvernette simply rolled her eyes. "Someone please remind me to kill you two later. Right now we have to deal with these things!" she said as she drew her sword.

**Play Theme Let the Battles Begin!**

The battle began with the Shadows sinking into the ground and charging at the party followed shortly by the Soldiers.

Kaya dodged a spinning kick from one of the Soldiers but a Shadow attempted to strike her from behind before it was crushed under Tager's gigantic metal fist. It faded away into a cloud of black mist.

"Thanks." Kaya said in gratitude before slashing another Shadow.

Things were going well though the flying Heartless were causing a bit of havoc with their spells. And every time one of the Heartless had been wounded they were healed almost by the Green Requiems.

"This is getting annoying!" Kaya shouted in irritation. "We have to get rid of those flying creatures if we want to get out of here!" she said as she tried to slash at a Green Requiem that floated "just" out of her reach.

"They seem to use different elements in their attack patterns. The red ones use fire. The blue ones use Ice. The yellow ones use electricity. And the green ones heal the wounded ones." Zack said as he sent a Soldier flying with a punch.

"Might I suggest using spells of the opposing elements to defeat them?" suggested Tager.

"Great idea! Ingus and I will handle the ones in the air while you and Zack handle the rest." the silvernette said as she killed another Shadow.

"Alright. But be careful." the Red Devil said as he crushed another Heartless into a mushy paste.

"Ingus! Let's blast these things out of the air!" she said to which the blonde nodded in agreement.

They both held their hands out and pointed their palms to one of the flying Heartless.

"Fire!" Ingus shouted as a ball of fire shot out of his hand and struck a Blue Rhapsody, incinerating it instantly.

"Freeze!" Kaya shouted as a block of ice shot out of her palm and struck a Red Nocturne, freezing it solid in a matter of second. It fell to the floor and shattered into millions of pieces.

It continued like this until all the Heartless had been defeated. Though they were a little confused when the creatures released glowing pink heart-shaped lights when they died.

**End Theme**

"Man that was a tough battle." Zack said as he wiped some sweat from his brow.

"Well we had to make sure that those things didn't hurt the others." Kaya said referring to the unconscious members of their party.

"Right." Zack said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Now let's get out of here before more of those things show up." the girl said as she sheathed her blade.

They gathered the three suffering from Mako addiction and left the mansion.

* * *

Outside they saw Aria and Sara waiting with the Chocobo.

"You're alright!" Aria said in relief.

"You guys were in there for so long that we were starting to get worried." said Sara.

The two blondes then noticed the extra people.

"Who are they?" asked Sara.

"The big guy here helped us get through the mansion and the other people here were some unwilling Shinra guinea pigs." explained Kaya.

"I see. Thank for helping our friends Mr. red giant." Aria said with a bow.

"It's no problem. And the name's Tager." the giant said dismissively.

"Well it's nice to meet you people and all, but we have enough Chocobo to carry you all out of here." Sara said as she looked from the group to the Chocobo and back.

"That won't be necessary." a disembodied female voice said from out of nowhere which scared everyone but Tager.

"It's good to see that communications are back up Kokonoe." Tager said into his earpiece.

"Did you complete your assignment?" asked the woman.

"Yes I have successfully retrieved the thirteenth subject." said the giant.

"Good. Now get out-of-town as soon as you can. I'll have an airship pick up you and those kids and bring you back to base in the morning." said the woman.

"Hold up! Why should we go with you?!" Kaya asked with her hands on her hips.

"You're planning on selling all the evidence you got from the lab to an Anti-Shinra group right?" asked Kokonoe.

"Yeah, so?" the silvernette said in an indifferent tone.

"I'd be willing to buy that information from you if you tag along." said the woman.

"And I'd be willing to sell to you. But it won't come cheap of course. After all, me and my friends have our futures to think about." the girl said in an innocent tone as she placed her hand on her chest.

"We'll talk price when you get here. But for now just follow Tager out of town." the woman said before ending the transmission.

"Nice woman." said Zack.

* * *

After journeying for several miles the party found a place where they could rest.

A lighthouse tower's light shone in the distance from their site.

Tager stood watching over the three catatonic test subjects while patiently waiting for their pickup to arrive.

Kaya, Aria, Ingus, and Sara were lying on a patch of grass not too far away watching the stars twinkle in the clear night sky.

"The stars look so pretty tonight." Sara said wistfully.

"You say that every time you see them Sara." Aria said with a giggle.

"Well I can't help but point it out every time I see them." Sara replied as she looked to her fellow blonde. "Don't you agree Ingus? The stars look absolutely lovely this evening." she said as she look to her other friend and batted her eyelashes cutely.

The boy blushed a little. "Uh, yes… they do Sara." he said quickly looking back up at the sky so as not to stare into the eyes of his crush too long, lest he gets lost in them.

"You know that Ingus would agree to whatever you say Sara!" Aria said as she pouted in a sort of cute way.

"Aria, please don't start this argument again." Kaya said in an annoyed and somewhat amused voice.

The three blondes looked at their friend with slightly apologetic looks on their faces.

"Sorry." said Aria.

"Its alright." replied the silvernette.

The four children had settled into a comfortable silence as they returned to their star-gazing.

Suddenly, Sara noticed something odd was going on with one of the stars.

"Look at that star! I think it's about to go out!" she said as she pointed to the star in the sky.

One of the brightest stars in the sky began to flicker in and out sporadically before finally fading out of existence.

"Oh! Why do I feel so much sadness all of a sudden?" Aria said sadly as she placed a hand on her heart.

"I can feel it too. It's because the planet is mourning the loss of one of its friends in the sky." the silver-haired girl sad feeling the same kind of sadness.

"Why do you think we have the ability know what the planet is feeling?" Aria asked as she looked at the silvernette.

"I don't know Aria..." the silver-haired girl said as she closed her eyes. "I just don't know?" and the group became silent.

* * *

Meanwhile Zack was standing on a beach nearby contemplating his next move.

"So where do I go from here?" Zack asked as he looked out to sea. "Can't do much when I got Cloud to worry about. Angeal... What do I do?" he asked hoping that his late mentor could give him some sort of answer.

Just then someone walked up behind Zack.

"Hey, Cissnei. Been a while." he called out surprising the person.

Cissnei had shoulder-length wavy dark-red hair and brown eyes. Cissnei wore the standard Turk uniform of a white undershirt, a black suit with a black tie, a pair of black fingerless gloves and a pair of black boots with black shoelaces.

"Zack." said the woman. "The fugitive sample... Is it you?" she asked not really wanting it to be true.

"It would seem so." was what SOLDIER said.

Cissnei had a conflicted look in her eyes trying to decide whether if she should carry out her mission or not. "What did they do to you in that place?" she asked her old friend.

"Well... this and that..." the man replied with a shrug as he turned around. "So Cissnei... You're here to take us back right?" he asked somberly. He didn't really want to fight his friend.

Cissnei said nothing and looked away guiltily.

"Please, just walk away!" begged Zack. "I thought we could outrun the army, but the Turks are a different story." he said with a grimace.

The redhead looked at the SOLDIER for a moment before replying. "Zack, I'm sorry." she said with the utmost sincerity. She then pulled out her trademarked giant shuriken and entered her battle stance. "This is my job." she said sadly.

"If you want to escape, you have to." she said as she moved to throw her weapon but she hesitated. She steeled her resolve and threw her weapon only to see the man deflect it easily.

Zack pointed the Buster Sword at the Turk as her giant shuriken landed in the sand behind her.

The woman started to walk to the man.

"Step back." he said threateningly making her stop. "Next time. I'll really have to..." he trailed off.

The SOLDIER and the Turk stared at each other for a few moments before Zack ran off.

Cissnei sighed and looked down at the sand.

* * *

Zack quickly returned to where the others where.

"Zack…? What's wrong?" Aria asked as she saw the troubled look on the man's face.

"The Turks are here, too. It's too dangerous to move now." the man said as he stood in front of Cloud. "We'll rest here, until morning. Then we'll leave at dawn." he said as he looked up at the night sky. He saw the worried looks on Aria and Sara's faces. "Eh, we'll be alright." he said reassuringly.

The SOLDIER then heard someone coming into the area and turned to that it was Cissnei.

"Cissnei." Said Zack.

He drew the Buster Sword as she came closer.

"Wait. They're... They're the other samples they collected at Nibelheim." the redhead said as she looked at Cloud and the two catatonic girls.

Zack moved in between her and his best friend. "Why did you come here? I told you to go away." he said as he looked at the Turk.

The others were waiting to see whether a fight would break out or not.

"They don't look well, Zack. Are they alright?" the woman asked in concern.

"Mako addiction. Severe case." the black-haired man said sternly.

The Turk was shocked that the two girls had been subjected to experimentation at such young ages. "The experiments, isn't it?" she asked somberly.

"Yeah." replied the swordsman.

Cissnei then pulled out her cellphone and dialed a number.

"Hey!" Zack said in alarm.

The Turk held up a hand to keep him from doing anything. "Tseng. I've lost the targets." she said into the device much to the shock of everyone still present. After that she closed her phone and put it away. "That's how it is... So get away safely." she said with a small smile before starting to walk away.

"Cissnei... thank you." Zack said making the woman stop and turn around.

"Here's a present." she said as she walked back to the man. She then placed a set of keys into his hand. "If you think you can trust me, then use it." she said before she turned around and walked away.

"Who was that?" asked Kaya.

"A friend." was all the man said.

* * *

Later that night everyone was resting before they would part ways in the morning.

Kaya woke up with a start.

She looked about and saw that everyone was still asleep.

'_I had that dream again... Why is it that every time I kill someone... I always relive that horrible night?_' she asked herself as she looked at her hands seeing the invisible blood stains of all of her earlier victims on them. But she knew the real reason. It was because she killed people. It was because she enjoyed taking the lives of those who wore the badge of the Shinra Company and those associated with them. The night she had lost everything, a monster had been born. And as that monster grew so did her anger and her hatred. It was getting harder and harder to suppress the urges now than ever before. Shinra employees were no longer enough to satisfy her. And she was afraid that she would move on to a different sort of target. She prayed to all deities out there that she doesn't harm any of her friends.

She decided that a small stroll down the beach would clear her mind.

* * *

Several minutes later Kaya was sitting on the sand with her knees pulled up to her chest while watching the waves lap against the shore.

"Can't sleep?" said a familiar voice.

The silver-haired girl turned her head and saw Aria walking towards her.

**Play Theme Elia, the Maiden of Water**

"Oh, hey Aria. Yeah, I had _that_ dream again." Kaya said as she hugged her knees tighter to her chest.

The blonde's gaze turned sympathetic as she sat down next to her friend. "Ingus told me about what happened in the Shinra Manor. He told me how you killed those guards." she said causing Kaya to become rigid.

Did he...?" she asked before trailing off.

"No." Aria said with a shake of her head. "He only told me about it." she said soothingly. Out of the entire group, Aria was the only person who knew of the monster that lived in the darkest parts of Kaya's heart. And she was the only one who could successfully suppress it. "She took control again, didn't she?" the blonde asked as she put a hand on her friends shoulder.

Kaya only nodded in confirmation as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"It's okay Kaya." she pulled her friend into a warm embrace. "We'll find a way to beat this. And then you can finally live a normal life." she said soothingly as she rubbed the silvernette's back.

"I'm so scared Aria..." Kaya said while weeping into her friend's shoulder. "What if I can't hold it back? I... I don't want to become a monster." she muttered before her sobbing increased.

"Shh... It's okay... Everything's going to be alright. You'll see." she whispered into Kaya's ear like a mother who was comforting her child.

Kaya eventually calmed down and the two girls decided to just watch the waves lap against the shore since neither of them could go back to sleep.

"Aria..." said Kaya.

"Yeah?" replied the blonde.

"If... If I do fall into the darkness..." she said before Aria cut her off.

"No Kaya! It won't come to that... I won't let it!" she said softly though the conviction was easily felt.

"Alright." the silver-haired girl said knowing better than to argue with her friend.

**End Theme**

* * *

"Hey... Do you see that?" Kaya asked as she pointed out towards the water. Her eyes were scrunched together to get a better look.

"See what?" Aria asked as she tried to find what her friend was pointing at.

"There's something floating in the water." the silver-haired girl said as she stood up to get a better look.

"Do you think it's some sort of debris?" the blonde girl asked as she stood up as well. She finally spotted what her friend had pointed out in the water. The one thing she hated the most was pollution.

"I don't know. I'm going to go check it out." Kaya said as she began to take off her clothes. when she was completely bare she ran into the water and swam out towards the mysterious floating object.

When she had reached the object, she was surprised to see that said object was actually a boy, who looked to be about a year or so younger than her, floating on his back. The boy had spiky dark brown hair and a fair complexion, suggesting that he spent a lot of time outdoors. He wore a simple black short-sleeved tee-shirt, a pair of light gray pants, black fingerless gloves, and black and gray sneakers. Hanging from his neck was a silver necklace with a beautiful azure colored crystal gemstone on it. It was nothing like she had ever seen before.

She quickly grabbed ahold of the boy and paddled back to shore.

She laid him on the sand and began to shake him lightly. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked though she got no response. She shook him again but still no response.

"Is he alright?" Aria asked as she joined her friend.

"He's not responding. I think he has water in his lungs or something." she said as she looked at her friend. "Go back to camp and grab a few towels to dry us off. I'll stay here and revive him." Kaya said with authority.

The blonde girl nodded and ran back to the campsite.

When her friend was gone she quickly looked back to the mysterious boy. '_I have to get all that water out of his mouth._' she thought as she opened the boy's mouth. '_Okay... Now concentrate... pull the water straight from his lungs._' she thought as she held her hand over the boy's mouth. Within moments the water was flowing out of the boy's mouth and lungs and condensed into a ball in the girl's hand. '_That's it!_' she thought as the last of the water came out. She threw the liquid to the side and it splashed on the sand.

Several moments passed but the boy still wasn't breathing.

'_Damn it! If he doesn't start breathing soon then he'll die!_' the silver-haired girl thought as she looked at the boy. '_Looks like I have to give him mouth to mouth._' she thought with a slight grimace. This would technically be her first kiss. But that didn't matter now. This boy's life was more important.

Kaya pinched the boy's nose, tilted his head back, took a deep breath, and finally locked her lips with his, blowing all the air she had gathered into his lungs. When she pulled back she was slightly out of breath and had a light blush on her face but strangely, it wasn't from the mouth to mouth... well not entirely. But before she could contemplate what she was feeling the boy began to cough.

The boy weakly opened his eyes revealing them to be the same shade of azure as the gemstone on his necklace.

"Hey, are you okay?" the silvernette asked as her mesmerizing cat-like cyan orbs met with his endless azure ones.

"An... angel...?" the boy muttered before losing consciousness.

Kaya's face turned scarlet at the compliment. That was odd? She had been compared to an angel many times before. So why did she feel so flustered now? Pushing the thought aside for now, she was about to ask the boy some questions before she noticed that he had lost consciousness. She deflated before she felt a chill go down her spine. She suddenly realized that she was still naked, sitting outside, at night, in the middle of December, and that she was still soaking wet from her midnight swim.

The frigid winter air immediately gave the girl goosebumps as she began to shiver uncontrollably. Even her nipples had hardened from the cold. '_Damn! I really should have thought this through!_' She thought as she began rubbing her arms, trying desperately to bring warmth to them. "Aria... Hurry up with those towels." she said shivering.

She stared at the boy and she began to wonder where he came from. She had a feeling that this bay was going to alter her life in a huge way.

Little did she know that she was about to be thrust into an adventure bigger than anything she had ever been on before.

**End of Chapter 5**

* * *

**Author's Note**

**Play Theme Blast Away! -Gummi Ship 2-**

Titano Man XIII: And that ends chapter five and the filler chapters! Starting next chapter we will finally see where on Gaia our wayward heroes had ended up!

Kaya: Um, why did you make me sound like a possible serial killer?

Titano Man XIII: Here's the short version. You know that you were the victim to a horrible tragedy, right?

Kaya: Yeah.

Titano Man XIII: Well you watched as Shinra soldiers burned down the orphanage you lived in and you watched them gun down anyone that tried to escape.

Kaya: *Trembling from memory* Of course. How could I forget something so horrible?

Titano Man XIII: Then it would be kind of obvious that you would get a little messed up from something like that. Your mental state had just been degrading a little that's all.

Kaya: Don't act so indifferent about this! There's a chance that I could snap and kill someone I care about!

Titano man XIII: Don't worry. You won't end up like Sephiroth if that's what you're thinking. You'll suffer horrible life scarring events and revelations, but you won't go off the deep end.

Kaya: *Sarcastically* Gee, I feel _a lot_ better.

Titano Man XIII: Glad I could help! Now please leave plenty of reviews and stay tuned for the next exciting installment of Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts!

Aria: Bye!


	7. Chapter 6: Cast Ashore

Titano Man XIII: I'm back and even more powerful than ever!

Hazama: My, someone's in a good mood.

Titano Man XIII: Indeed I am. I'm finally starting to gain a little recognition here.

Noel: That's great! I just knew that you would become famous!

Titano Man XIII: I'm not famous yet. I still have a long way to go before I'm well-known.

Bang Shishigami: Well I, BANG SHISHIGAMI, wish you the best of luck on your road to greatness!

Titano Man XIII: Well, thank you Bang. But you don't have to shout.

Bang: MY APOLOGIES!

Titano Man XIII: *Sweat drop* Yeah. *To himself* At least all of those other boisterous characters that I know of aren't here.

Nylocke, Dragon of the Cold Steel: Lo and behold, for I, NYLOCKE, DRAGON OF THE COLD STEEL, HAVE ARRIVED!

Titano Man XIII: And I spoke too soon. By the way Nylocke is from a show on the internet and on Facebook called T.O.M.E. (which I do not own by the way).

Might Gai: YOSH! NYLOCKE YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH ARE AN INSPIRATION!

Rock Lee: GAI SENSEI IS RIGHT! COME AND TRAIN WITH US SO OUR FLAMES OF YOUTH CAN FLOURISH!

Bang: Can I train with you noble and powerful heroes of justice too?

Nylocke: But of course Sir. Bang for I, NYLOCKE, DRAGON OF THE EXTREMELY GENEROUS, extend this offer to anyone who wishes to join us in our epic training session!

Titano Man XIII: Oh, dear God... EVERYBODY RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

Everyone who wished to stay sane ran out like bats outta hell.

Gai: It looks like we have the training all to ourselves.

Lee: But Gai sensei! Someone has to give the disclaimer!

Gai: My most prized pupil is correct! But who will do it?

Bang: Then I, BANG SHISHIGAMI, will do this disclaimer! Titano Man XIII does not own Kingdom Hearts, Disney, Final Fantasy, Or any of the following video games and/or anime: Naruto, Bleach, Rosario + Vampire, Soul Eater, Avatar the Last Airbender, 8 Bit Theater Chaos, BlazBlue, The Legend of Spyro/Skylanders: Spyro's adventure, Sonic Colors, SoulCalibur V, Devil May Cry 1, 2, 3, or 4, Arc the lad: Twilight of the Spirits, Panzer Dragoon: Orta, and Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time as well as anything else he decides to put into this story. But all the original characters in this story are his property! NOW PLEASE ENJOY THE CHAPTER!

Nylocke: Onwards! To training and everlasting glory! WHOOSH!

* * *

**Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts**

**Chapter 6: Cast Ashore**

Aria Benett: Previously on Dark Destiny: Kingdom Hearts

**Play Theme Track of Battles**

Kaya suddenly held out her arm, signaling the two to stop. A look of pure steel was worn on her face and an intense fire burned in her eyes.

"What's wrong Kaya?" Ingus asked in concern before the silvernette slapped her hand over his mouth and put a finger to her lips silently telling the boy to remain silent.

The silver-haired girl pointed down the path and standing a little ways away were two Shinra infantrymen with their backs towards the group.

She silently gestured for the two to stay where they were before silently stalking up behind the two men who were chatting idly.

The girl silently drew a six-inch knife from between her large breasts and made her move.

Within moments she had slashed the throat of one of the infantrymen before quickly stabbing the other man in the heart before he could make any noise. She even covered the man's mouth to make sure that no sound had escaped his lips.

"Shh. Go to sleep... Shinra dog." the girl whispered soothingly as she sat on the man, her voice low enough so that only the man can hear her. The infantryman looked at the girl in horror. Plastered onto her face was a toothy grin that looked like that of a psychotic murderer who only derived pleasure from killing others.

Kaya watched as the light finally left the Shinra infantryman's eyes. Many emotions passed through her during this act. She had felt utter elation and joy at the familiar feeling of her knife slicing through flesh and piercing the organs of those she despised so greatly. So much pleasure was felt from this act that she couldn't help but grin in a way that made her resemble a certain fictional wide-eyed, grinning mass murderer she had read stories about. She had even uttered the words he was famous for to boost the horror factor and it worked perfectly. But in the very back of her mind she felt disgusted by her actions and that she enjoyed committing such an act.

_XXXXXX_

Meanwhile Kaya was going through the shelves looking for anything that would be incriminating enough to damage Shinra's reputation. So far she had found several books and journals on some of the unethical experiments that were done here but nothing that couldn't really hold up in a court of law.

She eventually came across a large desk that was covered in many books and documents. A large majority of which pertained to something called the Jenova S Project.

Believing she had just hit the jack-pot, she grabbed every last piece of evidence on the Jenova Project she could and stuffed them into the bag she had brought with her. She even picked up several documents referring to something called the Nibelheim Incident and the Jenova G project.

She was about to rejoin her fellow party members when she had noticed a small journal sitting on the desk. But it wasn't the journal itself that caught her attention. It was a large manila folder stuffed with many documents. Written in large, bold, letters was the name of an experiment called the Jenova A Project.

An odd feeling crawled up Kaya's spine as she read and re-read the name on the folder over and over.

'_The Jenova A Project?_' she thought as she slowly reached out to pick up the folder.

The girl's instincts were screaming at her to not pick up the book and walk away. But her damn curiosity was getting the better of her. She slowly picked up the folder and the little journal that sat on top of it and stared at them before placing them in a secret pocket within the bag where she had also stored the information about the Jenova Project.

_XXXXXX_

As the SOLDIER tried to catch his breath Kaya crouched down next to him and placed hand on his shoulder. "Are you alright?" she asked in concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine." he said as he recovered. He looked at the silvernette and his eyes widened in recognition. "Maya...? Is that... you?" he asked in disbelief.

Kaya's eyes widened in shock. "Maya…? No, my name is Kaya." she said feeling an odd sense of familiarity with the name. Who was this man? Did he know some other girl who looked like Kaya with a name so hauntingly similar to her own? '_No. It had to have been nothing more than a coincidence that's all!_' she thought denying the possibility of some sort of doppelganger of her out there somewhere. There really can't be another girl out there with a similar name as hers...? Right…?

"Kaya? Sorry my mistake. It's just that you look exactly like... Never mind. What are you people doing here?" the man asked as he stood up.

_XXXXXX_

The group made to leave when they heard the sound of clanking metal.

They turned around to see an odd group of creatures standing before them.

The creatures were odd in appearance since some were roughly humanoid in shape while the others that floated in the air were more bell-shaped and came in an assortment of colors.

_XXXXXX_

After journeying for several miles the party found a place where they could rest.

A lighthouse tower's light shone in the distance from where they were.

Tager stood watching over the three catatonic test subjects while patiently waiting for their pickup to arrive.

Kaya, Aria, Ingus, and Sara were lying on a patch of grass not too far away watching the stars twinkle in the clear night sky.

"The stars look so pretty tonight." Sara said wistfully.

"You say that every time you see them Sara." Aria said with a giggle.

"Well I can't help but point it out every time I see them." Sara replied as she looked to her fellow blonde. "Don't you agree Ingus? The stars look absolutely lovely this evening." she said as she look to her other friend and batted her eyelashes cutely.

The boy blushed a little. "Uh, yes. they do Sara." he said quickly looking back up at the sky so as not to stare into the eyes of his crush too long, lest he gets lost in them.

"You know that Ingus would agree to whatever you say Sara!" Aria said as she pouted in a sort of cute way.

"Aria, please don't start this argument again." Kaya said in an annoyed and somewhat amused voice.

The three blondes looked at their friend with slightly apologetic looks on their faces.

"Sorry." said Aria.

"It's alright." replied the silvernette.

The four children had settled into a comfortable silence as they returned to their star-gazing.

Suddenly, Sara noticed something odd was going on with one of the stars.

"Look at that star! I think it's about to go out!" she said as she pointed to the star in the sky.

One of the brightest stars in the sky began to flicker in and out sporadically before finally fading out of existence.

"Oh! Why do I feel so much sadness all of a sudden?" Aria said sadly as she placed a hand on her heart.

"I can feel it too. It's because the planet is mourning the loss of one of its friends in the sky." the silver-haired girl sad feeling the same kind of sadness.

"Why do you think we have the power to know what the planet is feeling?" Aria asked as she looked at the silvernette.

"I don't know Aria..." the silver-haired girl said as she closed her eyes. "I just don't know..." and the group became silent.

_XXXXXX_

Kaya woke up with a start.

She looked about and saw that everyone was still asleep.

'_I had that dream again... Why is it that every time I kill someone... I always relive that horrible night?_' she asked herself as she looked at her hands seeing the invisible blood stains of all of her earlier victims on them. But she knew the real reason. It was because she killed people. It was because she enjoyed taking the lives of those who wore the badge of the Shinra Company and those associated with them. The night she had lost everything, a monster had been born. And as that monster grew so did her anger and her hatred. It was getting harder and harder to suppress the urges now than ever before. Shinra employees were no longer enough to satisfy her. And she was afraid that she would move on to a different sort of target. She prayed to all deities out there that she doesn't harm any of her friends.

She decided that a small stroll down the beach would clear her mind.

_XXXXXX_

"Oh, hey Aria. Yeah, I had _that_ dream again." Kaya said as she hugged her knees tighter to her chest.

The blonde's gaze turned sympathetic as she sat down next to her friend. "Ingus told me about what happened in the Shinra Manor. He told me how you killed those guards." she said causing Kaya to become rigid.

Did he...?" she asked before trailing off.

"No." Aria said with a shake of her head. "He only told me about it." she said soothingly. Out of the entire group, Aria was the only person who knew of the monster that lived in the darkest parts of Kaya's heart. And she was the only one who could successfully suppress it. "She took control again, didn't she?" the blonde asked as she put a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Kaya only nodded in confirmation as tears began to fall from her eyes.

"It's okay Kaya." she pulled her friend into a warm embrace. "We'll find a way to beat this. And then you can finally live a normal life." she said soothingly as she rubbed the silvernette's back.

"I'm so scared Aria..." Kaya said while weeping into her friend's shoulder. "What if I can't hold it back? I... I don't want to become a monster." she muttered before her sobbing increased.

"Shh... It's okay... Everything's going to be alright. You'll see." she whispered into Kaya's ear like a mother who was comforting her child.

Kaya eventually calmed down and the two girls settled for watching the waves lap against the shore since neither of them could go back to sleep.

"Aria..." said Kaya.

"Yeah?" replied the blonde.

"If... If I do fall into the darkness..." she said before Aria cut her off.

"No Kaya! It won't come to that... I won't let it!" she said softly though the conviction was easily felt.

"Alright." the silver-haired girl said knowing better than to argue with her friend.

_XXXXXX_

"Hey... Do you see that?" Kaya asked as she pointed out towards the water. Her eyes were scrunched together to get a better look.

"See what?" Aria asked as she tried to find what her friend was pointing at.

"There's something floating in the water." the silver-haired girl said as she stood up to get a better look.

"Do you think it's some sort of debris?" the blonde girl asked as she stood up as well. She finally spotted what her friend had pointed out in the water. The one thing she hated the most was pollution.

"I don't know. I'm going to go check it out." Kaya said as she began to take off her clothes. When she was completely bare she ran into the water and swam out towards the mysterious floating object.

When she reached the object she was surprised that said object was actually a boy who looked to be about a year or so younger than her floating on his back. The boy had spiky dark brown hair and a fair complexion, suggesting that he spent a lot of time outdoors. He wore a simple black short-sleeved tee-shirt, a pair of light gray pants, black fingerless gloves, and black and gray sneakers. Hanging from his neck was a silver necklace with a beautiful azure colored crystal gemstone on it. It was nothing like she had ever seen before.

She quickly grabbed ahold of the boy and paddled back to shore.

She laid him onto the sand and began to shake him lightly. "Hey, are you okay?" she asked though she got no response. She shook him again but still no response.

"Is he alright?" Aria asked as she joined her friend.

"He's not responding. I think he has water in his lungs or something." she said as she looked at her friend. "Go back to camp and grab a few towels to dry us off. I'll stay here and revive him." Kaya said with authority.

The blonde girl nodded and ran back to the campsite.

When her friend was gone she quickly looked back to the mysterious boy. '_I have to get all the water out of his mouth._' she thought as she opened the boy's mouth. '_Okay... Now concentrate... pull the water straight from his lungs._' she thought as she held her hand over the boy's mouth. Within moments the water was flowing out of the boy's mouth and lungs and condensed into a ball in the girl's hand. '_That's it!_' she thought as the last of the water came out.

Several moments passed but the boy still wasn't breathing.

'_Damn it! If he doesn't start breathing soon then he'll die!_' the silver-haired girl thought as she looked at the boy. '_Looks like I have to give him mouth to mouth._' she thought with a slight grimace. This would technically be her first kiss. But that didn't matter now. This boy's life was more important.

Kaya pinched the boy's nose, tilted his head back, took a deep breath, and finally locked her lips with his, blowing all the air she had gathered into his lungs. When she pulled back she was slightly out of breath and had a light blush on her face but strangely, it wasn't from the mouth to mouth... well not entirely. But before she could contemplate what she was feeling the boy began to cough.

The boy weakly opened his eyes revealing them to be the same shade of azure as the gemstone on his necklace.

"Hey, are you okay?" the silvernette asked as her mesmerizing cat-like cyan orbs met with his endless azure ones.

"An... angel...?" the boy muttered before losing consciousness.

Kaya's face turned scarlet at the compliment. That was odd? She had been compared to an angel many times before. So why did she feel so flustered now? Pushing the thought aside for now, she was about to ask the boy some questions before she noticed that he had lost consciousness. She deflated before she felt a chill go down her spine. She suddenly realized that she was still naked, sitting outside, at night, in the middle of December, and that she was still soaking wet from her midnight swim.

The frigid winter air immediately gave the girl goose bumps as she began to shiver uncontrollably. Even her nipples had hardened from the cold. She began rubbing her arms trying desperately to bring warmth to them. "Aria... Hurry up with those towels." she said shivering.

She stared at the boy and she began to wonder where he came from. She had a feeling that this bay was going to alter her life in a huge way.

_XXX_(The scene fades to black)_XXX_

* * *

The scene fades back in to show a small peaceful village located outside of the city of Midgar. Unlike the bustling metropolis nearby, this place is a quiet hamlet with only a few shops, a pub, and an inn. The economy is based upon mining in the Mythril Mines, but due to recent activities of Midgar Zolom outside the mines, work has stopped. This place was known as the town of Kalm.

It was late at night when an odd group of people walked into the town's square.

The first person was a tall man with windswept, spiky red hair and blue eyes. He was clad from head to toe in red armor. His very appearance was that of a noble knight who had seen many battles. This man was Baron, the Warrior.

The second person was a man dressed in a deep blue cloak with a yellow witch's hat on his head. None of his features could be seen other than his large yellow eyes. This was Gilles, the Black Mage.

The third person was a tall man with long white hair and blue eyes. He wore an all red ensemble topped with a red feathered hat. This was KluYa the Red Mage.

The fourth person was a man with spiky blonde hair covered by a green bandana and brown eyes. He wore a green tunic over a red shirt, green wrist bands, and a pair of red boots. This man was Baku, the Thief.

The fifth person was a petite young Elvaan woman with dark skin and lavender hair that falls to the small of her back, with two bangs that frame her face, pointed ears, and blue eyes. She wore a cropped short-sleeved black jacket that was held closed by a red ribbon and a blue brooch over a long, high-collored black and white top with criss-crossings up the sides and long, frilly violet sleeves. Patterned black shorts stop just above her knees, and she had brown heeled boots that fold over the top. Small gold designs pattern her clothing, from the trimmings of her jacket and the sleeves of her top, to the gold adorning the small black pieneta that sat atop her head. This was Prishe.

The sixth person was another woman with dark green hair and blue eyes. She wore a green outfit with knee-high golden heeled boots and draperies adorned with stars. This was Rydia.

And the last person was a man with long black hair and green eyes. He wore a medium-length blue jacket with white studs and grooves, a white undershirt, brown pants, black boots, and dog tags. This was Laguna Loire.

And at the back of the group was a rare Golden Chocobo with interactively designed saddle and reins strapped onto it.

Those who were still out at this late hour stared at the odd group in curiosity.

The group walked by without trouble until Rydia stopped and looked at the starry night sky. Her eyes widened when she noticed that one of the stars started blinking in and out sporadically.

"Look!" the green haired woman said as she pointed up to the sky. "A star is going out!" she said in alarm.

The rest of the group looked up in time to see the star blink out of existence.

"Come on. Let's hurry." Prishe said as she looked at her comrades.

Everyone nodded and started walking further into town.

* * *

"Where are those blasted keys...?" Gilles the Black Mage asked as the party walked through the square.

"Hey, you know, we ought to find this Rachel king Leo spoke of." Baron the Warrior said as he walked next to the dark mystic.

"Oh? And where do you suppose she is?" the Black Mange asked cynically.

"I don't know?" said the redhead.

"Exactly. Now leave the searching to the people who actually have a brain." said Gilles.

The group walked on in relative silence until Biko, Queen Sarah's prized pet Golden Chocobo split of in another direction.

Baron stopped and pointed in the direction that the Chocobo went in. "Uh, Gilles. You know, I bet you that..." he tried to say before the Black Mage interrupted him.

"Aw, what do you know, you ignoramus?" Gilles said as he walked off.

"What do I know?" the Warrior said before going after the mystic.

"Is he always like...?" Rydia tried to ask but Baku and KluYa interrupted her.

"Yes." both men said before following their fellow party members.

The green haired woman looked at Laguna and Prishe who just shrugged before walking after the rest of the group.

"Hmm... Come on, Biko." the woman said before walking off.

* * *

Meanwhile in an adjacent alley-way the Golden Chocobo was following a mysterious scent.

She walked down the alley until she came across a small group of children lying unconscious on the ground.

The first child was a boy around the age of twelve with spiky bright red hair. He wore a silver necklace with a red crystal attached to it, a white tee-shirt, a pair of light blue jeans and a pair of blue-gray sneakers. This was Ignis Braveheart.

The second child was a girl around the age of twelve with shoulder-length blue-gray hair. All she wore was a large light-gray hooded sweater that reached her knees, and a silver necklace with a Lapis Lazuli gemstone that matched her eyes. The sweater looked very baggy on her small frame. This was Celia Zoromaki.

The third child was a rather well-endowed girl around the age of twelve who was completely naked aside from a silver necklace with a pink diamond gemstone attached to it wrapped around her neck. Her hair was long and wild and reached her rear, and her body and hair were vivid lavender with yellow claws on her hands and feet, while her face was a paler shade, almost white, and she had bright red lips and red lining around her eyes, giving her a more savage yet elegant appearance. This was Terra Branford.

And the last child was a girl around the age of fourteen with long black hair that was pulled up to look short and held up by a yellow and green headband with two little white puff balls on the sides of her head just above her ears, She had two chin-length bangs framing the sides of her face and three smaller bangs falling between her eyes. She wore a light green tee-shirt under a light yellow vest, light green shorts, a silver necklace with a jade gemstone attached to it, and a black bracelet "carved" from a meteorite. She wore no shoes as she preferred to walk barefoot. This was Toph Bei Fong.

"Wark?" the large bird chirped as she investigated the children. Biko then nudged the red-haired boys face with her beak, causing him to stir.

The boy groaned as his eyes opened, revealing them to be a bright emerald-green color. His eyes met the curious gaze of the Golden Chocobo.

"What a weird dream..." Ignis muttered as his eyes fluttered shut.

"Kweh!" the great bird cried as she stomped on the boy's chest, jarring him from his half-awake state.

"This isn't a dream!" the redhead said in shock as he sat up.

He looked about and saw Celia, Terra, and Toph all asleep next to him.

"Celia, Terra, Toph!" he said in relief.

He then proceeded to awaken the blind Geomancer.

"Ugh, my head. It feels like I got hit in the head with a sledgehammer." the ravenette groaned as she opened her eyes, revealing them to be a very pale shade of green. They were dull, unfocused, and held no light, showing that she really was blind. "Where are we?" she asked as she used her special ability to try to pinpoint where they were.

"No clue..." Ignis said honestly.

"Oh, boy." the girl said as she stood up. "Are they okay?" she asked as she looked to where her two other friends were at.

"Let me check." the boy said as he proceeded to awaken the sleeping Terra.

The Esperkin released a small tired moan as her eyes fluttered open. Tired violet orbs gazed around the area before the landed on the redhead. Her eyes widened in surprise and she immediately tackled the hapless boy to the ground while licking and nuzzling him affectionately.

"I'm glad to see that you're okay too Terra." Ignis said with a blush as he stroked the Esperkin's hair, eliciting a purr from her.

Toph felt a small pang of jealousy toward Terra when she "saw" how affectionate she was compared to before. But she quickly brushed it off. She wondered why she felt jealous in the first place. It wasn't like she had feelings for the redhead... Right...?

Ignis was finally able to push the Esperkin off of him and moved towards the blue-gray-haired girl. "Celia... Celia, wake up." he said as he gently shook the blue-haired girl's shoulder.

The girl's eyes soon fluttered open revealing the beautiful Lapis Lazuli orbs to the world. "Ignis...?" she croaked weakly as she locked eyes with her dear friend.

"I'm glad to see that you're alright Celia." Ignis said with a smile as he helped the girl sit up.

"Where are we?" she asked as she looked around. Though she did smile when she saw the Chocobo. She really liked those large smelly birds.

"No clue." the redhead said with a sigh.

"Do you know where we are?" Celia asked the Chocobo.

Biko stared curiously at the children before she heard a sound coming from somewhere else and ran off.

"Hey...!" Ignis and Toph shouted after the bird as she ran off.

"Well, great..." the Geomancer said as she blew the bangs hanging over her eyes away. She sat back down and crossed her legs. "So what should we do now?" she asked as she looked towards Ignis.

"Well, we should try to find out where we are first." the boy said as he scratched his head.

"Um, guys? Why am I wearing Aeros' sweater?" Celia asked after noticing that she was wearing her brother's sweater.

"Um, well..." Ignis trailed off before he and Toph told the bluenette what had happened after she had lost consciousness. Though they had toned it down a bit so they wouldn't cause her any sort of panic or stress. But she was a little freaked out when they told her that the lavender-skinned Esperkin was really Terra.

So now Celia was sitting on the ground with Terra's head resting on her lap. She was stroking the half-Esper's hair, eliciting a purr from her.

"So do you guys think that Aeros, Angela, and mom are somewhere around here?" the blue-gray-haired girl asked as she looked at her two friends.

"Most likely." Toph said with a shrug.

"Well we won't know if we stay here." Ignis said as he stood up.

"Right." Toph said as she stood up too.

Celia gently pushed Terra from her lap and tried to stand up. Only to immediately realize that her legs were still asleep. "Um, Ignis..." she said with a blush. "Do you think you can... carry me?" she said as she looked down bashfully.

"Um, sure." he said with a slight blush on his face as well. He turned around and crouched down, gesturing for the girl to get onto his back.

The bluenette got onto the boy's back, though she had to hike up the sweater quite a bit so her crush could hold her legs properly. Her face turned a deep scarlet color when she felt his bare hands touch her thighs.

It wasn't any better for Ignis either. Feeling Celia wrap her slender arms around his neck and feeling her still developing chest press against his back was more than enough to send his pulse skyrocketing.

"All right, let's get going. Come on Terra." the boy said as he looked at the Esperkin.

The girl seemingly understood what he meant and stood up. Surprisingly, she was about a couple of inches taller than Ignis, considering that before she was about the same size as him. This was probably due to the fact that she was putting all of her weight on her toes and the front of her feet. (Titano Man XIII: Does anyone have any idea what that part of the foot is called?)

With everyone ready to go the party of four left the alley-way.

They soon made it to the town square and stared in awe at the small town.

"This is totally weird..." Ignis said as he gazed about.

"We're on another world!" Celia said excitedly as she tightened her hold on the redhead.

* * *

**Play Theme Traverse Town **(This is the town's night theme)

So in awe were the children that they didn't notice the person leaning on the wall of the building behind them.

"Hi there, kids." said a female voice.

The children turned around and saw that there was an attractive, scratch that, _very_ woman leaning against the wall.

"First time in town?" she said in a sultry tone. She pushed herself from the wall and walked to the group. "I can show you around and make sure that you all have a _really good time_." she said seductively as she caressed Ignis' face which unnerved him a little.

"N-no thank you!" the boy said as he tried to back away.

"Oh, don't be shy." the woman said as she stepped so close to the boy, that his face was practically smothered by the woman's large breasts.

"I'm not shy!" he said as he tried to back away some more, only for him and Celia to bump into a railing that was behind them.

"Then let's have some fun! Right here and now! Your girlfriends here can join in too if you want?" the prostitute said before she pulled down the top of the strapless dress she wore and exposed her large flawless breasts to the boy. This made both Ignis and Celia's faces turn a deep scarlet color. "Don't worry. I promise I'll be gentle." she said as she tilted the boy's head up to give him a kiss.

She was about to steal Ignis' first kiss when her head was suddenly yanked back by an enraged Terra.

The Esperkin did not like some cheap floozie trying to steal her mate from her. So with her increased strength she threw the prostitute at the wall she was leaning against before.

As soon as the woman hit the wall an equally pissed off Toph used her Geomancer techniques to create bindings and held the woman down.

"_That_ was for trying to molest my friend... and _this_..." the blind girl then punched the woman in the stomach hard enough to knock the wind out of her. "Was for being such a slut!" she growled menacingly through gritted teeth. It was obvious that she wanted to inflict more harm, but she held herself back, lest she would kill the woman.

Toph then spat on the prostitute's face before she grabbed a slightly dazed Ignis and stormed off angrily.

Terra gave one last menacing growl towards the woman before following her friends.

* * *

Meanwhile, on a nearby rooftop a mysterious figure holding an umbrella, silhouetted by the moon, watched the scene with interest.

"How interesting..." the figure spoke in a refined female voice.

"Princess... Are you sure that he's the one?" asked a male voice though it appeared that no one else was there.

"Yes. I am very certain that he is the one we have waited for." the woman said as she twirled her umbrella.

"Princess. Should we go get him now?" a third child-like voice asked as a small winged animal flitted up next to the figure.

"No. We shall wait for the time being. For now I want to see what the owner of the key will do in this situation." the mysterious woman said as a pair of blood-red eyes shone through the darkness.

And within moments the figure disappeared. As if they were never there in the first place.

* * *

Sometime later Ignis, Celia, Terra, and Toph were walking down a small back-road in silence.

Everyone was thinking about the situation they had just gotten out of.

Ignis blushed when he remembered when the woman had flashed him.

Celia was thinking about the woman's amazing figure and she couldn't help but compare her figure, or lack there of, to that of the woman's. The more she thought about it, the more inferior she felt towards other women.

They continued in silence for a little longer until Ignis spoke up.

"Hey Toph... Thanks. You know, for what you did back there." Ignis said quietly as he walked along.

"Don't mention it. Really." Toph said as she kept walking along. She really didn't like how that woman was trying to seduce _her_ Ignis. '_Whoa wait! Did I just think that?!_' the blind girl thought as she slightly faltered in her pace, though no one noticed it. She had a small blush on her face from the sudden thought.

A few minutes later the party came across an odd shop that seemed very out-of-place in the small hamlet.

The shop was a simple two story building with a bright red neon sign on the front that read Devil May Cry.

"It looks like some sort of shop." Celia said as she looked upon the glowing sign. She had never seen anything like it before.

"Maybe we'll find out where we are?" Ignis said optimistically as he gazed at the building.

"Hope so." Toph said as she stretched her arms.

Terra on the other hand was very wary of the building. She felt several powerful presences inside.

"Come on." the redhead said as he walked in followed shortly by Toph and a very reluctant Terra.

Upon entering the shop they noticed many things.

There was a billiards table to the side, a small lounge, there was a jukebox in the corner, a weapons rack filled with a menagerie of weapons, a drum kit, a large wooden work desk, and mounted on the very back wall of the room were the heads many strange and powerful looking creatures. One of which looked to be a Behemoth.

"Hey there, how can I..." a man said as he came into the room from a back room. He stopped talking when he saw the party. "Oh, it's just a bunch of kids." the man said in irritation.

The man had white hair brushed down, blue eyes and his entire right fore-arm and hand was covered in some sort of armor plating with luminous light-blue skin seen in between the plates and on his palm. He wore a long, black-purple and red coat with The Order of the Sword's insignia sewn into both shoulders. He also wore a red zip-up hoodie/vest underneath this coat, a navy muscle-shirt beneath that, a pair of dark blue pants and a pair of brown boots. He also wore two rings on his normal hand: one on his index finger that had the emblem of The Order of the Sword on its face, and another on his ring finger which had a rose design on its face, identical to the designs on his belt buckle, coat clasp, and coat buttons. This young man's name was Nero. A young Devil Hunter and Mercenary for hire.

"I'm not a kid?! And the name's Toph! Toph Bei Fong!" the ravenette said angrily. Due to her petite stature many people mistook her for a little kid. She hated it almost as much as people seeing her as weak and defenseless due to her blindness.

"Calm down Toph." Celia said as she placed a hand on the girl's shoulder which calmed her down a little. "Sorry about that. My friend is pretty sensitive when it comes to what people think about her." she said a little sheepishly. "Anyways, my name is Celia Zoromaki. And these are my friends." she said gesturing to the others.

"Hi. I'm Ignis Bravehart. Nice to meet you." the red-haired boy said in a friendly tone.

Nero looked at Terra curiously but all she did was tilt her head in curiosity.

Celia took Terra's hand in her own which made the Esperkin focus on her. "This is Terra Branford. She's a very good friend of ours." she said with a smile causing the lavender skinned beauty to smile as well.

"So, are you going to just stand there and gawk, or are you going to tell us where the hell we are?" Toph said as she crossed her arms over her chest impatiently.

"Okay, okay, simmer down." the Devil Hunter said in a placating manner. "So what's with the long faces? You guys lost or something?" Nero said as he crossed his arms.

"No! Well, maybe. Where are we?" asked Ignis.

"Huh?" Nero asked in confusion.

So Ignis, Celia, and Toph explained the events that led them to finding themselves in Kalm and Nero explained to them about how Kalm was a sort of refugee town for people who have lost their worlds to the darkness, about how things worked around town, and about the world in general.

"Kalm..." Ignis said in thought.

Everyone had moved to small lounge area during the explanations and were now taking a much-needed rest.

"So, old man, is this place really another world?" Toph asked as she leaned back into a comfortable looking chair.

"Don't call me an old man! Just because I have white hair doesn't mean I'm old! And my name's Nero by the way!" the Mercenary said in an angry huff.

The Geomancer couldn't help but laugh at the man's reaction.

"Anyway..." the white-haired man said with a sigh. "Not exactly sure what you're talking about, but this place sure isn't your forest." he said as he turned on the large 98' high definition plasma television that was mounted on the wall and started flipping through random channels.

"Hmm... Guess we better start looking for Aeros and the others." Ignis said as he got up from the couch and pulled Celia up as well. Luckily the girl had regained the use of her legs.

Terra and Toph stood up as well and were preparing to leave.

"Well, good luck with whatever it is you're doing." Nero said as he kept flipping through channels.

"Um, Mr. Nero... Um, are you the owner of this shop?" Celia asked trying not to be rude.

"Huh? Oh, no. My boss went out earlier on a job, so he won't be back until later. Hey, if you guys ever run into any trouble, you can come to me. I'll look out for you." Nero said with a small wave.

"Alright. It was nice meeting you Nero. And thank you for helping us." the bluenette said with a grateful bow.

"Don't mention it." he said as the party took their leave.

**End Theme**

* * *

After wandering around for a while the party found themselves back at the town's square.

"Help! Somebody help me please!" a man said as he ran into view.

The man tripped and fell to the ground.

Before any of the kids could help him a strange monster pierced the man's chest with its clawed hand and tore out his heart. And before the horrified eyes of the party, the man began to fade from existence.

After the man vanished the party took a closer look at the monster.

At first glance the creature appeared to be a noble knight-type warrior. But a closer examination revealed that the creature was just as beastly as any other monster. Its muscular form was clad in a bluish-black body suit bearing a strange emblem that looked to be a black heart with red thorns crossing through it and purple inverted emblems trimmed in gold on the knees. It wore black, silver trimmed shoes that ended in spiral toes, silver wristbands, and a silver knight's helm decorated with two angular, eye-like spirals on the front and a yellow stripe at the base of the curled silver plume. Its true monster-like behavior comes out on a close examination of its fierce blue and red-tipped claws, and its shadowed face with bright yellow eyes and toothy maw. This beast was commonly known as a Soldier Heartless.

Before anything else could be done the creature disappeared.

The party ran to the spot trying to figure out what just happened.

"What the hell just happened?" Toph asked honestly feeling afraid.

"I have no clue..." Ignis said as he looked around.

Suddenly a swarm of Shadow Heartless appeared and surrounded them.

"It's those monsters that attacked us in the forest!" Celia said in alarm.

Ignis' True Lights Flight Keyblade suddenly appeared in his hand.

The Shadows charged and Ignis, Terra, and Toph had to fight them off using their Keyblade, magic, and Geomancer skills .

Within moments all the Heartless had been defeated.

* * *

**Play Theme Traverse Town**

"Did those things follow us all the way here?" Toph asked as she scanned the area with her special ability.

"I don't know. We better go find the others." Ignis said as his Keyblade disappeared in a flash of light.

The others nodded and they commenced their search.

After several hours worth of searching and Random Encounters with the Heartless the party returned to the Devil May Cry shop to get a little rest from the exhausting search.

Nero was still on the couch watching T.V. and eating a slice of pizza.

"Still haven't found them, huh?" he asked as he looked at the kids. "Keep your chin up. Try taking another look around town when you're all rested up." the Devil Hunter said as he offered a slice of pizza to Ignis.

"Thanks." the boy said before practically eating the entire slice in one bite.

"So what are you kids here for?" Nero asked as he looked at the party.

"Mind telling us a little more about this world?" Celia asked as she sat down.

"Okay. What do you want to know?" He asked after finishing another slice of pizza.

"A bit of everything would be nice." Ignis said as he grabbed another slice of pizza.

So Nero told them about the world of Gaia, the Shinra Company, Midgar, and many of the little thing in between. Two boxes of pizza later and Nero finished his explanation.

"This world is so big... there's a chance that Aeros, Angela, mom, or the others might not even be in this town at all." Celia said as she finished eating a slice of pizza.

"Yeah. They might even be in that Midgar place." Toph said as she nibbled on a slice of pizza.

Terra made a sound akin to agreement before eating a slice of pizza she had been given whole.

"Well, if we can't find them here in Kalm then we'll move on to the next town and look for them there!" Ignis said as he clenched his fist in determination.

"Well I wish you kids all the luck I can give you." Nero said as he finished the last slice of pizza.

"Thank you again Nero." Celia said as she stood up.

"No problem." said the white haired man.

"See you later." Ignis said as the party left.

The Merc simply waved goodbye.

**End Theme**

* * *

A little while later the party once again entered the town square.

They were minding their own business when a voice called out to them.

"They'll come at you out of nowhere." a man said as he stepped out of the shadows.

The man's appearance was modeled after the traditional Japanese manga and anime hero. He was a young adult with white spiky hair and hetero-chromatic eyes: his left eye was green and his right eye was red, a side effect from assimilating the Azure Grimoire into his body. His clothing consisted of a hybrid of modern, futuristic and old features. He wore a vibrant red sleeved jacket with two long thin tails hanging from the back. Under it is a black shirt with three red belts. He wore a pair of black gloves with red shells on the backs of the hands. His right arm was prosthetic after having lost it when he was younger. The shells on his gloves open up to show the Azure Grimoire when he uses it. He wore a pair of black hakama and steel-toed red boots. He also had a black birthmark on the center of his chest. Though it was not visible. Holstered on his back was a giant sword with a giant slab of metal resembling a blade. This was his weapon of choice, the Blood-Scythe, a weapon that supplemented his ability to steal life force with each strike. This man was Ragna the Bloodedge. A SS-rank criminal wanted for terrorist activities. He now holds the highest bounty in recorded history, easily going into the trillions.

"Who are you?" Ignis asked as his Keyblade suddenly appeared in his hand.

"And they'll keep on coming at you, as long as you continue to wield that sword." the man said as he pointed at Ignis' Keyblade. "But why? Why would it choose a brat like you?" he asked as he ran a hand through his spiky white locks.

"Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" the redhead said feeling insulted.

"Never mind." Ragna said dismissively. "Now, let's see that sword of yours." he said as he tried to reach for the Keyblade.

"What? There's no way you're getting this!" the red-haired boy said and he got into a battle stance.

Toph had gotten into a martial arts stance and got ready for a possible battle.

Terra smelled the air and noticed that there was another presence right behind them. She turned around and started growling at the alley-way behind the group.

"Oops. Looks like I got caught." a sarcastic male voice said as a man stepped out of the alley.

The man had shoulder-length brushed down white hair and blue eyes. His most obvious design trait was an affinity for red-colored apparel, in the form of a long, two-tailed coat. The coat had a detailed and stylish look, with western and Italian accents. Under the coat he wore a black zip-up vest with three buckles, black chaps over a pair of red pants, black boots, and a pair of black gloves. Holstered onto the man's back was a massive broadsword with a heavy double-edged blade, notched on both sides near the tip. In its dormant form, the pommel is a single spike, but after awakening it splits open into several. The grip is plain, but the guard is skeletal, with a skull-design on each side leading to the rib cage from which the blade emerges; on one side of the blade, the skull is that of a human, while the other uses a horned demon's skull. Initially, the crosstrees is folded in against the ribs, but it extends and the skull transform to a Screaming Skull (Wailing Skull) once the sword is awakened by the man's blood. This was the man's trademarked sword Rebellion. And holstered onto his lower back were a pair of M1911-style handguns chambered for the .45 ACP round, which boasted a plethora of customized features. These were the man's trademarked dual handguns Ebony & Ivory. This man was known as Dante. A professional Devil Hunter and Mercenary for hire.

The man had a smirk on his face and didn't really look troubled that he had lost his element of surprise; on the contrary, he looked like he had expected that he would be caught.

Terra was wary of these men. She could sense a ridiculous amount of power coming from them. And their joint presence was enough to make her tremble. Especially the white-haired man. Seeing him brought up a memory of someone who had absolutely terrified her.

"You're surrounded and out-classed. So will you come with us, or will you have to get difficult?" Ragna asked as he crossed his arms.

"Yeah, no. I'd rather take a spa-day than go with you two pedophiles!" Toph said as she got into a more aggressive stance.

'_Why does everyone I meet think I'm some sort of pedophile?! It seriously gets annoying sometimes!_" Ragna as he glared at the girl. "Alright, have it your way!" he growled as he drew his massive blade.

**Play Theme Rebellion**

**The wheel of fate is turning...**

**Rebel 1...**

**Action!**

"I'm sure that you can handle those two kids on your own Ragna, I'll take care of the naked one." Dante said referring to Terra.

"Whatever." the man said before he jumped high into the air. "Belial Edge!" he shouted as he dove towards Ignis in a downward diagonal stabbing attack.

The redhead barely had time to push Toph out-of-the-way before he could dodge the attack. Unfortunately Celia tripped in her attempt to escape and the attack struck where she was. Ragna struck the ground with enough force to actually make it shake as well as kick up a small cloud of dust.

"Celia!" Ignis shouted in fear for his friend's life.

When the dust cleared, it revealed that Celia was completely unscathed. Somehow the attack actually missed hitting her and landed in between her legs which were spread open a bit to avoid amputation, but the attack was still only a fraction of an inch away from piercing her lower half.

The bluenette was shaking like a Chihuahua from the near impalement. Her eyes were the size of saucers, her mouth hung open in a silent scream, and she sweated buckets despite the winter weather.

"Sorry about that." the SS-ranked criminal said as he pulled his blade from the ground.

The stress from the situation as well as the fatigue from the long night of searching had finally caught up to her and the poor blue-gray-haired girl fainted.

"Thank Alexander." Ignis said in relief before glaring at the man. "You're going to pay for that!" growled the boy.

Toph was trembling from the display of power. She knew that if this man could attack while he was in the air then she was at a major disadvantage. And if the depth of the cut he left in the ground was any sign of his strength then he could crush her bones with a single swing of that over-sized sword.

The young Keyblade wielder charged at Ragna and launched an overhead swing which the white haired man blocked with his sword.

Terra immediately went in to swipe at the man with her claws only for Dante to bar her path and aim his guns at her.

"Uh-uh-uh, I'm your dance partner here. So let's dance." the Devil Hunter said as he opened fire on the half-Esper.

Luckily Terra was quick enough to cancel her dash and dodge the barrage of bullets.

"You're light on your feet. I like that in a dance partner." the man said as he holstered his firearms. "Come on." he said as he did the "Come and get me" hand gesture.

Terra growled at the Merc's cocky attitude and sent a fire spell skidding along the ground towards him at high speeds.

Dante quickly pulled out his Cerberus Nunchaku and slammed it onto the ground which sent several ice spikes towards the Esperkin. The two elemental attacks collided and cancelled each other out, due to them being polar opposites. "Nice try." he said before he drew Rebellion and charged at the half-Esper.

Meanwhile Ignis and Toph were struggling against their opponent.

"Dead Spike!" Ragna shouted as he swung his sword down and sent an upwards arc of energy that took the shape of a beast's head at the redhead.

Ignis was able to block the attack though it sent him skidding back several feet.

"Hell's..." Ragna shouted as he dashed towards the Keyblade wielder with a powerful attack. The attack connected with the boy's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. "Fang!" the man shouted as he did a follow-up attack coated in dark energy.

The boy was sent flying back until he landed on the floor a few yards away.

Suddenly a pillar of stone shot out of the ground towards the man's stomach but he quickly planted his foot onto it and used the momentum to propel him backwards. He did an aerial back-flip and landed on his feet.

'_This guy is pretty good._' Toph thought as she "stared" at the white-haired man. '_I know that if I let him get too close to me then I would risk taking a lot of damage. As long as I keep him as far away from me as possible then I might be able to win this fight._' she thought as she waited for her opponent to make the next move. Contrary to popular belief, Toph is in no way the reckless, hot-headed, arrogant warrior as her personality would suggest. In fact she is one of the most tactically minded people around. Thanks to her ability to "see" her surrounding with the vibrations going through the ground, she can see where everything is. And this ability was invaluable it battle since many warriors traveled on the ground. So she could easily predict and interrupt her opponent's actions from their movement alone. The only fatal flaw with this method of fighting was that she was completely blind to aerial attacks. And even though Ragna can string together devastating aerial combos, they all had to be close range. So if Toph could just keep him from getting too close to her then he wouldn't be able to knock her into the air.

It was a good strategy... on paper. But what Toph didn't know was that Ragna had the habit of doing the impossible.

The Grim Reaper then charged at the blind girl.

The ravenette smirked and with swift motions, raised a wall to bar his path. But to her shock the man vaulted over the stone structure before it got too high. He continued his charge as Toph started sending attack after attack at the man. She even sent projectile boulders at him. But the man simply either evaded or sliced his way through each attack without stopping.

Ignis had recovered from the SS-rank criminal's attack and watched in a mixture of awe and fear as the man sliced his way through his friend's attacks. '_He's treating all of Toph's attacks like they don't even bother him. Not even Aeros can get through her defenses._' he thought and soon began to worry for his friend.

'_How's this even possible?!_' Toph thought as she started to panic. She had never fought anyone as skilled and as stubborn as this man before. Even as she kept sending more and more attacks at him, he just kept coming. And before she knew it Ragna had closed the distance between them.

"Take this!" the man shouted as he hit the girl with an uppercut powerful enough to send her flying into the air. Ragna then started assailing her with a barrage of devastating aerial combos. "Inferno Divider!" he shouted as he spun in the air and coated his blade in dark energy. The attack struck the blind girl with enough force to break a couple of her ribs. She hit the ground hard enough to bounce off it and cause a minor concussion.

"Toph!" Ignis shouted in alarm when he saw his friend hit the ground.

Toph got onto her hands and knees and coughed up some blood.

"Give up?" The Grim Reaper asked as he scratched his head.

The Geomancer stood up on shaky legs and got into her stance. Her stance was weaker than before and she was having trouble staying conscious. But the one thing about the Geomancer that everyone should know is that she is as stubborn as the earth she manipulates." Bring it on..." she said weakly as she tried to stay upright.

"Don't say I didn't warn you." the man said with a sigh. He then got into a stance and began charging dark energy. "Carnage..." he said as he dashed at the girl.

The Keyblade wielder's eyes widened in shock. He knew that if that attack connected then Toph would die. He felt an overwhelming protective instinct take over and he rushed to save his precious friend. "Toph!" he shouted as he ran to his friend's defence.

Time seemed to slow down as Ignis jumped in front of Ragna's attack.

Like the first time Toph was amazed and somewhat touched by the redhead's willingness to protect her. Her heart had even skipped a beat.

The Keyblade wielder's instincts told him to block the attack with his left arm instead of with his Keyblade. Having no time to question it he held his left arm out defensively in front of him.

Ragna's Carnage Scissors attack connected with the boy's arm, but instead of simply cleaving through the limb a blinding flash of light engulfed the two.

At that moment a massive surge of energy burst forth shorting out all nearby electrical equipment and gaining the attention of Dante and Terra, who were still in the midst of an intense battle.

The Esperkin had many injuries from the various elemental attacks that the Devil Hunter had managed to hit her with. Dante on the other hand had not received a single injury from the battle.

When the light receded, it revealed Ragna trying to cut off the boy's arm and that said boy's arm was now covered in a strange gauntlet that covered his entire forearm and hand. The gauntlet was all white with the exception of a large striking blue jewel on the back of the hand. Its design was draconian in overall design with pointed claw-like tips on its fingers a few angelic qualities as well, such as feather-like designs going down the length of the gauntlet. It glowed with a holy light as a bright fire poured from the gauntlet.

The light from the strange gauntlet was creating a sort of force field that prevented Ragna's attack from inflicting any harm.

'_What the hell?! Is that some sort of Nox Nyctores?!_' the Grim Reaper thought in shock as he was pushed back by the boy.

'_Well this is interesting._' Dante thought as he looked at the scene. This fight was starting to get more entertaining than he first thought.

'_What is this?_' Ignis thought as he stared at the odd piece of armor that covered his arm.

"_**You have finally awakened the power that slept within you."**_ a mysterious voice said from within Ignis' head.

'_Who are?!_' the boy thought in shock. he noticed the gauntlet glowing brightly and looked at it.

"_**I am your guardian. I am the Vast White Dragon. I am Reshiram."**_ said the voice.

'_Nice to meet you Reshiram. My name is..._' the boy's thoughts were interrupted by Reshiram.

"_**I know full well who you are. I have been with you for your entire life."**_ said the dragon.

'_Oh..._' he thought sheepishly.

"_**You now have total command over fire and light. Just focus on the power within the gauntlet and call out my name. And your strength will be boosted temporarily. Use my power wisely."**_ the Vast White Dragon said as its presence disappeared from Ignis' mind.

'_Just focus on the power in the gauntlet._' the redhead thought as he closed his eyes and began concentrating on the Gauntlet.

The entire conversation had only lasted a moment in the outside world.

Suddenly a large amount of power began to build in the air. It kept building up until Ignis opened his eyes which now glowed with a fire within them.

"Grant your strength to those who seek the truth! Reshiram!" he shouted as a huge pillar of light shot out from him. As the immense power surged forth a pair of wings made from light sprouted from his back before fading away.

* * *

Many people felt this surge of power not just in the immediate area, but across the world as well.

Down in the slums of Midgar a girl was jarred from her sleep when she felt the sudden spike of power.

In a deep dark containment cell within Shinra Company HQ a creature taken from its home lifted its head as it sensed the holy energy.

In Cosmo Canyon an old shaman was pulled out of his meditation upon feeling the sudden flood of light.

At several unknown locations warriors with enough power to single-handedly destroy an entire town sensed the energy spike and looked to where it originated.

Deep within the bowels of the Shinra Manor a figure cloaked in darkness felt a light penetrate the darkness he had slept within.

Within the Lifestream, two dark entities felt this sudden burst of light.

And a continent away, on a shore near the town of Nibelheim, two young girls looked to the sky when they felt this power. They felt a warm unfaltering light coming from somewhere in the world. But what they failed to notice that the right arm of boy they had saved from drowning was glowing and resonating with the light with a faint black light pulsing from it.

* * *

Back in Kalm both Terra and Toph had fainted from their injuries and the sudden flux of power. Due to the sudden external pressure from the light the flow of the Esperkin's power had been stabilized and she returned to her human form.

The light finally died down and Ignis was now seen covered in an aura of light and with a white angelic looking shield that had the same striking blue jewel on it as the one on the gauntlet on his left hand. His stance had changed to a stronger and more fluid stance than the one he had before. (Titano Man XIII: It's the Warrior of Light's battle stance from Dissidia Final Fantasy.)

Ignis now felt much more comfortable being in his regular battle stance now that he had a shield. The one he had used up until now had been completely made-up on the fly and had too many openings and flaws for his liking.

The boy looked to where Celia, Terra, and Toph were laying and he noted with some internal relief that Terra was now back to normal. He looked to Ragna and Dante with an unreadable expression.

"I don't know why you two are after me..." the boy said in a strong voice that made him sound older than he actually was. "But you had hurt my friends. And for that... I'm taking the both of you down!" he said as he pointed True Lights Flight at the two men.

"Bring it on brat. We aren't leaving here without you otherwise the damn Rabbit won't stop bugging me about it." the heterochromatic man said he assumed his battle stance.

"I need the extra cash. So I got to bring you in to my employer." Dante said as he drew Rebellion.

"I see... I apologize for what I'm about to do." Ignis said as he resumed his battle stance. The boy suddenly spun around in a full circle, dragging the tip of his Keyblade along the ground before releasing a series of pillars of light towards his opponents. "Light Wave!" he called out as the attack raced forward.

Both men quickly dodged to the side and avoided the pillars of light.

Ignis quickly rushed towards Ragna and launched a fact horizontal strike with his Keyblade known as Dayflash at the man. (Titano Man XIII: Just so you know, he has the same move set as the Warrior of Light)

Ragna blocked the attack causing the redhead to recoil back. The white haired man struck the boy with Blood-Scythe and batted him away.

The boy got back up and was about to go back and launch another attack, but before he could he had to block a sword strike from Dante with his shield.

"You know kid, you're not that bad." the white haired Devil Hunter complimented as he put on the pressure. "Maybe in a few years you could actually be a good fight." he said with a smirk.

"Glad to hear it." Ignis said as he held off the attack. He was able to push the blade away and launched another Dayflash attack at the half-Devil.

Dante jumped back and pulled out Ebony and Ivory. He began to fire dozens of lightning fast rounds at the boy causing him to run around to evade the projectiles.

Ignis quickly hid behind a conveniently placed crate. As the rounds of bullets chipped away at the crate the boy looked at the gauntlet and the jewel glowed brightly before fading. Suddenly the redhead knew a new attack that just might turn the tables on this fight.

'_This attack just might help me win this fight. But it's risky... I'll be completely out of energy afterwards._' he thought as the bullets started blasting through the crate.

The boy rolled out from behind the crate and quickly stood up and began charging energy.

Dante stopped firing mostly because his orders were to bring the kid in alive and partly because he was curious about what the boy was going to attempt.

Both Dante and Ragna felt the increasing amount of heat and energy in the air. It was already as warm as a summer's night and the heat was increasing.

"What the hell is this kid trying to do?" Ragna asked as he readied himself for whatever the young Keyblade wielder was planning.

"Looks like he's using his trump card." the Devil Hunter said with his hands in his pockets.

"Yeah, well I'm not letting him use it." the SS-rank criminal said as he charged at the boy.

"Good luck." Dante said as he walked to the nearest building and leaned against its wall. He had a feeling that this fight would end after the kid's next attack. And given the amount of heat and energy in the air, it was going to be a doozy.

"Turboblaze!" Ignis shouted as he unleashed the Gauntlet's special ability. A large pillar of fire burst forth and engulfed the boy. The pillar dispersed and the redhead now had a fiery red aura surrounding him.

'_Damn! His power just went through the roof! I have to finish this now!_' the Grim Reaper thought while gritting his teeth. He then charged at Ignis with the intent of securing a quickly victory. But the closer he got to the boy the higher the temperature increased. "Time to end this in one attack!" he said as he got ready to launch one of his most devastating attacks.

"Let's go, Fusion Flare!" He shouted as he lifted his left hand up into the air. He shot a ball of fire out of his palm and it quickly grew in size before descending to the ground and erupting into an intense inferno.

Although the move missed Ragna almost entirely the explosion from it was enough to send him flying back into a wall a short distance away.

**End Theme**

'_Damn that hurt._' the man thought as he pulled himself from the wall. He looked to where Ignis was and saw that the boy was barely standing. Obviously he had put a lot of energy into that last attack since he no longer had that red aura around himself anymore.

Ignis felt completely drained from his attack. The fatigue he felt from the constant fighting and the activation of this new power as well as being able to use powerful elemental attacks that went beyond his current level of strength was very taxing to his body. He finally succumbed to his exhaustion and collapse onto the ground and quickly slipped into unconsciousness.

"Well that was easy." Dante said as he walked up to the unconscious redhead.

"Easy for you to say Dante. I did all the fighting!" Ragna growled as he glared at the Devil Hunter.

"Details." the paranormal mercenary said with a shrug.

"Ass." the SS-rank criminal muttered under his breath as he looked back to the red-haired boy.

"Hey, Good Guy! Tao wants to Play!" a female voice said from behind the two men.

The two white-haired men turned around and saw a young woman with a rather unique take on the cat-girl archetype with light brown skin and long blonde hair tied up into two braids and a black cat tail with a faded white tip. She seems to spend her entire time wearing a beige-colored hoodie with a cat hood and long cat-themed sleeves that cover her arms. She wears a pair of unusually designed high-heel boots with the same cat theme but seemed to be more fit for a creature with high ankles. She typically dresses skimpy underneath the hoodie, wearing only red panties with red straps. The girl's real face had been the subject of interest for many. Her hood had been stated to hide her facial features and she never removes it. All that can be seen of her face were a pair of red beady eyes and an ever constant toothy grin that tends to emulate emotions when conveying facial expressions. This girl was known as Taokaka. She is a mercenary in training from the Kaka village. A town that was located in the slums under the plate of Sector 5 in Midgar.

"Oh, hey Tao. Sorry I don't have time to play with you today." Ragna said as he scratched his head.

"Aww. Why not Good Guy? You promised Tao that you would play with me nyow." the cat-girl whined sadly.

"I know, sorry. But the rabbit wanted me to get this kid with a "key" for her." the SS-rank criminal said as he gestured to the unconscious boy on the ground.

"Nya?" the hooded girl said as she crouched down over the boy. "Who's this Good Guy?" she asked as she looked up at Ragna.

"Some kid the rabbit wanted me and this guy here to bring him to her." Ragna said as he pointed at Dante with his thumb.

Tao looked at Dante for a minute and the man gave her a casual wave.

"Meow, you smell like pizza. So Tao's gonna call you Pizza Guy!" she said excitedly as she jumped up.

The Devil Hunter arched an eyebrow and looked at Ragna.

"She gives everybody a nickname." was all the terrorist said before looking back at Ignis.

"Well, we got the "key" that girl asked for. So I'd say it's a job well done." the paranormal mercenary said with a smirk.

"Still..." Ragna trailed off as he looked at Ignis. "It looks like things are worse than we thought. A lot worse." he said as he glanced around at the three girls that accompanied Ignis before looking over the strange gauntlet on the boy's left hand and finally setting his gaze on the Keyblade.

The scene then faded to black.

* * *

The scene faded back in to show the Light Warriors plus Laguna, Rydia, and Prishe walking down a secluded back alley.

"Huh, looks like nobodies here. It's actually kind of spooky!" Laguna said as he walked in front of the group.

Prishe scoffed arrogantly as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah right, I'm not scared." she said mere moments before something tapped her on the shoulder from behind.

The lavender-haired Elvaan shrieked and latched herself onto Rydia's back.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to scare you!" a female voice said from behind the group.

The party turned around and saw a fairly attractive young with long back length blonde hair (although she covered her hair in her blue Balmoral cap, making it seem like she had short hair), and green eyes. She wore a blue cloak with hood, long black socks, and blue military boots. When she was in battle, she wore a jolting sapphire uniform dress with a white-collar and a short red tie, with two separate long sleeves that have two heavy metal bands and a long red strap on each band, white gloves, and she carried two giant pistols that were linked together. These were her primary weapons, Nox Nyctores, Arcus Diabolus: Bolverk. This girl was known as Noel Vermillion a young woman who was a soldier in the Shinra Company's infantry. But in reality she is a double agent working for the anti-Shinra group known as BlazBlue. The outfit she wears is a modified version of the infantry uniform.

"Who are you?" Rydia asked as she pried Prishe off of her.

"My name is Noel Vermillion. I am here to escort the proxies of king Leonardo of Cornelia to my superior. Can I assume that you are them?" Noel asked in a militaristic tone.

"Yes, we are indeed the ones sent by our king to find the "keys" and their wielders." KluYa said as he stepped forward.

"Great! Now if you just follow me then I'll take you to our HQ." the blonde said with a grin as she lead the group out of the alley.

And then everything faded to black.

**End of Chapter 6**

* * *

**Authors Notes**

**Play Theme Dearly Beloved**

Titano Man XIII: Well, I say that this chapter went rather well wouldn't you agree?

Toph: Um, why Ragna and Dante way more powerful than us? And also... WHY DID YOU MAKE IT SO I COULDN'T EVEN HIT HIM?!

Titano Man XIII: Okay that is simple. In the original Kingdom Hearts Sora fought against Leon (Squall) and lost. And even if the player was able to beat Leon Sora would collapse from exhaustion and still lose. Very much like how Ignis collapsed after using Fusion Flare. A move that could have only been used at a higher level. Both boys were only able to slightly injure their opponents at the end of their respective battles, so it would have been a lose-lose situation anyways. And as for Ragna kicking your ass... well let's put it this way. You're more used to fighting your friends and you always held back against them. You never thought that there would be anyone more powerful than you, so you ended up underestimating Ragna during the battle. Though some of your attacks did hit him, they barely caused any damage, mostly due to the obvious difference in power. This was also the same case in the battle against Vergil as well.

Ignis: But what about that kick ass new power I unlocked?

Titano Man XIII: You didn't have any control over it. This is why you passed out after the battle. You weren't at a level high enough to handle that much power.

Terra: What about my battle against Dante?

Titano Man XIII: He is an experienced Devil Hunter. So he would have easily found a way to beat you in your Esper form since then you only relied on instinct.

Terra: Oh.

Titano Man XIII: Now that the questions are over, let's get to the news about the story. First off I'm removing the poll on my profile since it seems that nobody really gives a damn whether there's a harem in this story or not. So I'm taking it down. For those of you who like a good harem story now and then, don't worry, there will still be one, but much smaller. The new amount is four to five girls, six if I think they should be in it. I already have the girls in mind. So no other suggestions please, unless I decide to add another one. But that would be unlikely. In other news, I will be posting a new story soon and I hope for your honest opinions on it. So be on the lookout for it. Please review this chapter honestly. This is Titano Man XIII, signing out.

Rachel Alucard: Do come again.


End file.
